UK Nature and Environment

The first river to be given bathing water status in England is in limbo waiting for the Environment Agency (EA) to approve crucial nature-based solutions that are part of £43m in improvements to cut sewage pollution.

In the West Yorkshire town of Ilkley, campaigners were the first to use the EU-derived bathing water regulations to drive a cleanup of their river. But since part of the River Wharfe was granted bathing water status in 2020, water quality has persistently been recorded as poor, most recently in the latest classifications last month. If it remains poor next year, when the status is up for renewal, it could lose its bathing water designation.

The race to clean up the river comes as water companies await Thursday’s decision from the regulator, Ofwat, on how much they can raise customer bills to the end of the decade. This will pay for investment of between £88bn and £100bn to tackle sewage pollution, replace creaking infrastructure and fix leaks.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has been awarded £512,182 to restore nature across the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire landscape, in partnership with 11 organisations.

BBOWT, as lead partner, has received initial support* from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for the Reconnecting Bernwood, Otmoor and the Ray (RBOR) project. Made possible by National Lottery players, the project aims to enable long-term landscape and species recovery in the BOR region for the benefit of nature, heritage and people.

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with one in six British species at risk of extinction according to the State of Nature 2023 report. The region connecting Bernwood, Otmoor and the River Ray across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire has immense potential for nature recovery, but the landscape is under intense pressure from inappropriate development, historic intensive agricultural practices and climate change.

The government, its water regulator and the Environment Agency could all be taken to court over their failure to tackle sewage dumping in England after a watchdog found failures to comply with the law.

An investigation by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) found Ofwat, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency (EA) all failed to stop water companies from discharging sewage into rivers and seas in England when it was not raining heavily. The OEP was set up in 2020 to replace the role the European Union had played in regulating and enforcing environmental law in the UK.

The law permits water companies to spill sewage only during exceptional circumstances such as extreme weather, but in reality human waste is routinely dumped in waterways even when it is not raining. Sewage is spilled into rivers and seas because in the UK there are combined sewage overflows (CSOs) into which water runoff from roads, sewage from homes and businesses, and “grey water” such as that from baths and washing machines all combine.

• 59% of Local Authorities (172 out of 294 surveyed) have failed to consider the actions they need to take for nature restoration and/or to deliver nature restoration policies and objectives - both of which are legal requirements under the Environment Act.
• Environment groups are calling on the Government to make crucial nature-friendly changes in an upcoming major overhaul of the planning system and give Local Authorities the resources needed to help meet key nature recovery targets by 2030.

New research, released today by Wildlife and Countryside Link, reveals that overstretched and under-resourced English Local Authorities have been struggling to meet legal deadlines to consider the nature recovery action they need to take and the policies to support this.

Coinciding with these findings, nature groups including RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, Friends of the Earth and the Woodland Trust are launching a new Wilder By Design campaign today. They are calling for the Government’s upcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill to include a series of reforms to deliver a planning system that not only minimises harm to nature but actively supports the recovery of wildlife and wild places.

A policy to allow grass and plants in Weymouth's cemeteries to grow to support wildlife and biodiversity will continue - but only just.

Town councillors were split on the issue - and it came down to the vote from the chairman of a committee to give the move the green light.

It comes after the environment and services committee discussed the Living Cemeteries rewilding policy following the results of a public consultation.

No fines have been handed to water companies for illegal sewage overflows – despite the environment watchdog finding nearly 500 since 2020.

The Environment Agency has identified 465 illegal sewage spills since that year, data obtained via a Freedom of Information request shows. A further 154 are under investigation as potentially illegal spills.

But none has resulted in any enforcement action higher than a warning, despite government promises of a crackdown on water company pollution.

Original article

A conservationist has told how he felt "goosebumps" when he saw the first of a new colony of red kites arrive as part of a major reintroduction project 20 years ago.

The Northern Kites project released almost 100 of the birds of prey into the lower Derwent Valley in Gateshead, Tyneside, between 2004 and 2006.

The birds used to be a common sight in Britain but damage to their habitats meant they were all but extinct from the country by the 19th Century.

It is easy to get mired in a sense of hopelessness about the biodiversity crisis, but amid the doom and gloom, there are more than a few reasons to remain upbeat. For one thing, research this year underlined that conservation action works.

Thanks to the efforts of dedicated organisations, scientists, engaged private-sector partners and thousands of committed local people, there is an abundance of biodiversity success stories springing up in the UK. While beavers and eagles may hog the headlines, there is so much more out there, from striking butterflies to diminutive plants, reimagined rivers to revived mountain slopes.

Conservation is a complex business, but new methods are emerging to preserve, improve and generate new habitat and, in many cases, attract back or reintroduce species not seen for decades. After a nudge, ecosystems are often doing much of the heavy work themselves. Inspiring examples can be the root of a wholesale fightback. It’s time to fight inertia and look towards a brighter future for UK biodiversity, with a selection of site visits worth putting on your calendar for the coming year.

The Hedgerow Heroes project is now in its fourth year and we are as ambitious as ever, looking to plant more than 5km of new, native mixed species hedgerow into the Shropshire countryside.

Hedges, sensitively managed, are fantastic for farms and for nature too, being wildlife corridors linking up habitat across our beautiful county. Our planting sessions last from 10am to around 1pm and are usually in beautiful locations.

An experienced volunteer lead will show you the ropes. We provide spades. Suitable for families and people of all ages (children must be accompanied by an adult). Hedge planting is fun and very satisfying and gives you a chance to meet like-minded people doing something really practical and hands-on in our lovely county of Shropshire.

Thousands of trees are to be donated to charities, communities, and wildlife sites.

National Highways has teamed up with The Tree Council to support up to 40 community projects across the UK, aiming to benefit biodiversity.

The initiative is part of a broader goal to grow and plant three million trees throughout England by 2030.

The partnership will see the donation of up to 600,000 native trees annually, from a variety of species.

More than 200 ha of coastal habitat is to be restored in Durham.

The Coastal Grasslands Reconnected Project will focus on an area in the county between Nose's Point, near Seaham, and Horden.

Hedgerows, trees and scrub will be planted as part of a partnership between Durham County Council, Durham Wildlife Trust and the National Trust.

Some of the UK's most endangered birds that have been reared and released on Dartmoor have been tracked to Portugal.

A number of curlew introduced to Devon this summer travelled the 1,300 miles (2,092km) to the Algarve.

"Several individuals travelled around the South West estuaries in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, however, this year some undertook an epic journey south, following the warmer weather," said Jon Avon, curlew recovery project officer from the Duchy of Cornwall.

So, the only submission this time around was a photo of a melting snowman by Hossenfeffer which was fine as cynical humour but, call me po-faced or whatever, I'm pulling the 'Naturey McNatureface' rule on that: it is not banner material for this community for the next three months.

In the absence of any other submissions, I'm submitting three of my own photos in the comments below.

The one with the most upvotes by 10:00pm UTC on Sunday 21st will be our next banner.

The most comprehensive river testing of bathing waters in the UK has shown they contain a cocktail of potentially harmful chemicals and bacteria.

Watershed Investigations used volunteers to test 23 rivers and lakes used for swimming, twice a day, every day for a week.

The Environment Agency tests for two types of bacteria including E.coli but Watershed’s testing also looked for a number of pollutants

More than 1,200 hectares of degraded rainforest habitat are now on the road to recovery thanks to Scottish Government funding.

Almost £5 million has already been invested in rainforest restoration since 2023 and a further £5 million for ongoing restoration efforts was allocated as part of the draft 2025/26 Budget.

Scotland’s rainforest is a type of coastal temperate rainforest which is incredibly rare and as internationally significant as tropical rainforest.

Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network (GCV Green Network) have just published their Clyde Wetlands Opportunity Mapping Report identifying locations where the creation, restoration or management of wetlands across the Region will help reverse habitat loss and restore wetland networks.

Wetlands are one of our most threatened ecosystems, with an estimated 75% of UK wetlands lost in the last 300 years. And yet they are increasingly recognised as crucially important as a unique and biodiverse habitat, as well as for ecosystem services such as improving water quality, slowing the flow of water and natural flood management and effective carbon storage.

The Mapping Report will help GCV Green Network and their partners (Wildfowl & Wetland Trust, Edinburgh Napier University, Buglife Scotland, Green Action Trust, & NatureScot) identify Nature Networks and target delivery to greatest effect.

A rare habitat that is home to reptiles and ground-nesting birds in Dorset is to be restored in a two-year, £1.2m project.

Dorset Council is removing hundreds of invasive pine trees from Avon Heath Country Park to help rejuvenate the heathland.

The 210-hectare site is home to all of Britain's native reptile species, including the elusive smooth snake, along with birds including nightjar and woodlark.

Trees, scrub and other invasive species such as Rhododendron will be removed to help reverse the habitat loss.

Public body Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) has applied for a licence to release beavers in Glen Affric in the Highlands.

The glen is a large area of thickly wooded hillsides and glens with a river, streams and lochs south of Inverness. It includes fragments of ancient Caledonian Forest.

Beavers could be released into Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin next spring if Scottish government agency NatureScot grants a licence.

An eminent naturalist has voiced concerns that a TV crew's powerful floodlights could have put birds and red squirrels at risk at two beauty spots on Anglesey. The high-wattage lights were used to film night scenes for a Sky drama series, Under Salt Marsh, which is partly produced on the island.

The six-part series boasts a star-studded cast including Rafe Spall (The English), Kelly Reilly (Yellowstone) and Jonathan Pryce (The Crown). Filming initially took place in Gwynedd but moved to Anglesey in early December, with scenes recorded at Malltraeth and Newborough Forest.

Last Thursday, a lane on the A4080 Cob Malltraeth bridge was closed to accommodate two trucks carrying generators and crane-hoisted floodlights. Film location managers explained that the aim was to "cast light across the estuary" to "imitate moonlight", with more lights set up half-a-mile along Malltraeth estuary.

An environmental charity has submitted plans to install bio-receptive tiles in an estuary to rebuild habitats for coastal wildlife.

Groundwork North East & Cumbria (GNEC) want to build 95 bio-receptive tiles and six artificial rock pools on the disused slipway at Whitehall Landing, in Whitby, near the A171.

It is hoped the plans would help to attract new species and improve diversity of species such as water voles, kingfishers and freshwater pearl mussels.

Environment organisations in the North West have been building a raft of hope for one of the UK’s beloved bird species – the common tern.

Natural England, alongside partners including Environment Agency, Fylde Bird Club, Lancaster University, RSPB, Lancaster & District Birdwatchers Society and Lune Rivers Trust have been working hard to do a good ‘tern’ for these delightful silvery-grey and white birds which are affectionally known as the ‘sea-swallow.’

Just outside of Lancaster and Morecambe in the Lune Estuary, breeding pairs of common terns were once a regular sight but lost habitat, disturbance, lack of food and increased threats from predators caused the colony of several hundred pairs to disappear in 2008. To encourage their return, they needed a helping hand.

Rapid action against an invasive bee-killing hornet has stopped its spread in the UK despite suitable climate and habitat for the insect, a study has found.

Research led by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) looked at how suitable European countries were for the yellow-legged or Asian hornet to become established, and how they might have spread without action.

The non-native Asian hornet, which arrived in France in a cargo of pottery from China about 20 years ago and has spread rapidly across the continent, can kill 50 bees a day and has devastated honeybee colonies in France and Italy, experts said.

Environmental campaigners including celebrity wildlife champion Chris Packham have urged the government to abandon its plans to build on the green belt

The Community Planning Alliance (CPA), which represents grassroots action groups across the UK, has published a report setting out an alternative vision of housebuilding.

It comes after prime minister Keir Starmer last week recommitted to Labour’s election manifesto pledge of building 1.5 million homes this parliament.

Later today the government will spell out its much-trailed reforms designed to achieve this aim. These include asking councils to earmark sites for housing within the so-called ‘grey belt’ – less useful or environmentally friendly sections of urban development buffers.

A pioneering project in Scotland is celebrating a 2,000 hectare milestone for the benefit of Corncrakes, a rare and elusive bird that is threatened across the UK. Helping to build a brighter future for the special bird, the Corncrake Calling project has been bringing together farmers and crofters, local communities and conservationists in an effort to reverse the species’ decline.

Led by RSPB Scotland and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the four-year Corncrake Calling project has delivered essential conservation work to help Corncrakes and other wildlife, while bolstering the unique culture of rural Scottish communities.

Once widespread across the UK, Corncrake populations have fallen dramatically. As a red listed species, in Scotland they are now found only on some islands and parts of the north-west coast, while Rathlin Island is the last known breeding area for Corncrake in Northern Ireland. While changes in farming methods over time have meant that much of their UK-wide breeding habitat has been lost, farmers, crofters and landowners are now working alongside conservationists as part of the Corncrake Calling project to help make a difference for the species.

Nearly half of the nature-friendly enhancements promised by developers building new homes have failed to materialise, according to a study of almost 6,000 new houses.

Developers are failing to keep legally binding pledges to boost wildlife when building new homes, according to the survey by University of Sheffield academics for Wild Justice.

When researchers visited 42 completed housing estates in England to check if ecological enhancements including newly planted trees, bird boxes, ponds and hedgerows had been provided as stipulated by planning permissions, they found just 53% had been delivered.