UK Nature and Environment

This week, wildlife lovers were overjoyed to see two fluffy peregrine chicks hatch at St Albans Cathedral, marking a terrific comeback for the birds following the shocking destruction of their nest caught on camera just a few months prior.

One of only five breeding pairs in Hertfordshire, the webcam follows the lives of the peregrine pair each spring, attracting over half a million views last year alone. All eyes are now on the third egg nestled atop the cathedral in the hope it will complete the trio of these impressive birds of prey.

The Wildlife Trusts offer over 25 live, and much-loved, webcams seasonally. Right now is peak viewing season as the cameras allow an unrivalled view of courtship, nesting and hatching as well as a peep into the first few weeks of a chick's life. Webcams also follow the lives of mammals such as bats, badgers and red squirrels, as well as dolphins and scenic coastal views.

Regarding George Monbiot’s article (There’s an invader turning huge swathes of Britain into deserts – and these dead zones are spreading, 9 June), yes, molinia (purple moor-grass) is a serious scourge of many of the UK’s acidic upland landscapes. In 1999, while still residing in my home county of East Sussex, I began a conservation grazing initiative using Exmoor ponies to combat the growing threat to the South Downs’ chalk grasslands from a very similar grass, Brachypodium (tor grass), which back then I estimated was affecting well in excess of 200 hectares. This grass is of little use to farmers and also seriously depletes biodiversity.

Part of the seabed off the Jurassic Coast is "still recovering" from the effects of bottom trawling 17 years after it was banned there, marine researchers have said.

A consultation is being held on government proposals to extend the ban on the practice of dragging large nets along the seafloor.

Some fishing organisations have criticised the plans and questioned the environmental impact of bottom trawling.

Green groups have welcomed the Government’s decision to protect the nature-friendly farming budget, but concerns remain about the overall squeeze on environmental spending.

Ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spending review on Wednesday, environmentalists warned that cutting the budget for payments that support farmers and landowners to deliver public goods, such as healthy soil, clean water and hedgerows, would threaten the Government’s efforts on food security and tackling nature’s declines.

It comes as farmers face increasingly challenging climate conditions, while being hit by changes to inheritance tax and the abrupt closure of this year’s sustainable farming incentive (SFI), the biggest strand of the environmental land management scheme (Elms).

A minke whale has apparently been spotted feeding off the shore by fishing crews in Cornwall.

Company Mermaid Pleasure Trips said the mammal was spotted where hoards of jellyfish had also been seen.

A local fisherman said he saw three or four in a pod recently, which indicated that bait fish stocks in the area were healthy.

Conservationists have released 20 rare hazel dormice into a secret woodland location in Leicestershire to create the county’s only known population.

The tiny mammals were reintroduced this week to an undisclosed area of the Bradgate Park Trust estate by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and its partners.

It comes as part of national efforts to help the endangered species come back from the brink of extinction.

Grants to support the establishment of thousands of trees, orchards and hedgerows on streets, in parks, and in community and educational spaces across the UK, are now available through The Tree Council – including the introduction of a new £1m grant pot, funded by Defra.

The Tree Council, the national charity working together for the love of trees, offers a range of funding and free tree options to support planting projects; helping to bring greater biodiversity, improved air quality, reduced risk of flooding, and deliver significant environmental enhancement to grant recipients and their communities, from the north of Scotland to the tip of England, in Wales, and Northern Ireland.

And now, a new £1m Trees Outside Woodland Fund is available in England, offering grants of up to £40,000 for local authorities and larger charities to grow trees on land that is publicly accessible, or of benefit to the public.

A project to allow eels and other fish to safely bypass a man-made weir has been completed.

The concrete weir, created by Essex and Suffolk Water in the River Blackwater, near Maldon, Essex, was preventing fish from completing their natural migration upstream.

The route is particularly important for eels, which travel from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic.

The Woodland Trust in Wales (Coed Cadw) is celebrating the launch of Eryri's Tree and Woodland Strategy 2025–2125 – the most ambitious, forward-thinking vision for trees and woodlands anywhere in the UK.

It is the only community co-designed, long-term tree and woodland strategy in the UK, developed with the involvement of over 90 individuals and organisations, including farmers, conservationists, community groups and local authorities. The strategy sets out a century-long vision for restoring and nurturing Eryri's vital treescapes based on three core principles – safeguarding existing trees, managing woodlands better and connecting and expanding woodlands.

It's a strategy which places people, nature and climate at the heart of a shared commitment to recover and protect native woodland in one of Wales' most iconic landscapes.

Downing Street and the Treasury intervened to stop any concessions in the planning bill, after pro-housing MPs voiced anger over a Labour rebel amendment that attempted to strengthen nature protections.

The Guardian has been told that ministers drew up amendments to the bill last week in an attempt to head off the anger of wildlife charities and rebel Labour MPs amid a backlash against the bill.

Two sources with knowledge of the discussions said they had been expecting the amendments to be put in the Commons this week. But the amendments never appeared, after No 10 and the Treasury intervened.

Successive governments have failed to deal with the threat posed by spreading sewage sludge containing toxic chemicals on farmers' fields, a former chair of the Environment Agency has told the BBC.

About 3.5 million tonnes of sludge – the solid waste produced from human sewage at treatment plants - is put on fields every year as cheap fertiliser.

But campaigners have long warned about a lack of regulation and that sludge could be contaminated with cancer-linked chemicals, microplastics, and other industrial pollutants.

The variety of wildlife in the UK’s woodlands continues to decline as the habitats deteriorate, according to a new report.

The Woodland Trust found that the progressively worsening ecological condition of woodlands is making them a less effective habitat for the wildlife living in them.

Only one in 50 native woodlands have more than one veteran tree per 200,000 square metres, the report revealed. The presence of older trees are vital for wildlife as they provide food and habitat.

It is dusk, a short walk from the big Ikea in Croydon, and a barn owl is emerging from its nest to hunt. In the fading light, the male owl sits on a fence post to survey the rough grass below. He has a busy evening ahead: he is responsible for feeding a roosting female for the next few weeks while she cares for their chicks. The owl hops to another fence post. Suddenly, he dives into the grass below, emerging a minute later with an unlucky rodent, and flies back into the nest.

“I still get really excited,” says Tomos Brangwyn, a local enthusiast who monitors the site, lowering his binoculars. “He’ll do that most of the night. It’s a great sign that there’s a female in there that we haven’t seen for a while, as she’s on the eggs,” he says.

The scrubland is surrounded by urban sprawl. Police sirens and souped-up cars roar past, and industrial buildings hum under harsh security lights nearby. Central London is less than 10 miles (16km) away, but the barn owls here are unperturbed, feasting on the same diet of voles, rats, mice and other small animals as their country cousins. This patch of land has supported as many as three breeding pairs in recent years.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) may have failed to comply with environmental law, according to a new report.

It is in relation to special protection areas for at-risk wild birds, such as puffins, whooper swans and light-bellied Brent geese.

An investigation from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) had been previously launched in March 2024, following potential failures to implement recommendations given by a conservation body.

Previous estimates for declines of Critically Endangered angelsharks in Wales may have been overestimated, suggests our most recent ZSL-led study, identifying how changes to fishing practices have decreased chances of fishers encountering this native species.

Published today (9 June 2025) in People & Nature, a paper from our team, working with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Welsh fishing organisations, reveals how a series of changes within the Welsh fishing sector – such as reduced angling efforts and decreased overlap between fishing activities and angelshark habitats – have led to a decreased likelihood of fishers encountering the threatened angelsharks.

This finding comes as the team confirm how new techniques could help them build a more accurate picture. Monitoring the DNA left by angelsharks in their environment could revolutionise their ability to understand how these Critically Endangered fish are faring by reducing reliance on chance encounters.

NatureScot is preparing to introduce new powers that would allow more widespread shooting of young Ravens in Orkney following reports of livestock attacks.

While some farmers claim the birds have caused injuries and deaths among lambs, sheep and calves, conservationists have warned against rushing into lethal measures.

At a meeting organised by local farmers, NatureScot officials conceded that existing controls are not working effectively. Since 2016, some 34 licences have been issued in Orkney across 28 sites, permitting the culling of up to 124 Ravens – though only 58% of the allowed number were actually shot.

A ban on a "destructive" type of fishing that drags large nets along the seafloor could be extended across English waters, the government has said.

The proposal would expand the the prohibition of bottom trawling from 18,000km2 to 30,000km2 (around 11,500 sq miles) of the UK's offshore areas that are already designated as protected. The plan is subject to a 12-week industry consultation.

The announcement comes as a UN Ocean Conference begins on Monday in France, and amid warnings from Sir David Attenborough that bottom trawling is destroying areas of the seabed and marine life.

Conservationists have launched a campaign to revoke the Lake District’s Unesco world heritage status, arguing that it promotes unsustainable sheep farming at the expense of nature recovery and local communities.

In a letter to Unesco, the ecologist Lee Schofield argues that the designation “promotes a false perception of farming, is not economically sustainable, is working against crucial efforts to restore the natural environment and mitigate the impacts of climate change, does not help sustain farming livelihoods, is not wanted by local people and is contributing to damaging overtourism.”

The campaign is backed by a report published by World Heritage Watch, co-authored by Schofield, Dr Karen Lloyd of Lancaster University and the University of Cumbria’s Prof Ian Convery. They argue that the inscription elevates sheep farming over equally traditional mixed farming that includes cattle, pigs, horses and poultry.

Campaigners have said they have "little faith" in a water firm's commitment to cut pollution at a seafront.

Northumbrian Water has agreed to pay out £15.7m after failures in the maintenance and operations of its sewage and water network.

As part of this deal, the firm agreed to a "binding commitment" to work with the Environment Agency (EA) to ensure its system at Whitburn, South Tyneside, complied fully with environmental legislation.

A critically endangered fungus reintroduced to the UK, where it had been extinct, is still not growing but scientists say it is too early to suggest a project to save it has failed.

Parts of the fungus known as willow gloves were moved from the Scottish borders to woodlands in Cumbria in March last year.

Natural England fungi specialist Matt Wainhouse said this type of relocation had not been tried before and had not been straightforward.

Some specimens had since been eaten by rodents and others would not grow but Mr Wainhouse said this "doesn't mean the fungi is dead or that this has failed - it's just too early to tell".

Conservationists have abseiled down a 60-metre gorge in the Highlands to tackle invasive species such as Japanese knotweed in a bid to protect biodiversity in Scotland.

Rope access specialists from the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) dealt with invasive plants which had grown in crags in Corrieshalloch Gorge National Nature Reserve in Wester Ross.

The gravity-defying feat is part of efforts to tackle invasive non-native species (INNS), including Japanese knotweed and rhododendron ponticum, under NTS’s new Plan for Nature, which identified it as the main driver of nature loss in Scotland.

Over the past 50 years, global aquaculture including fish, mussel and seaweed farms has grown dramatically. Almost half of the world’s wild-caught fish is used to produce fishmeal and oils that feed farmed fish.

Mussel farming provides a more sustainable alternative protein source for human diets, because mussels filter feed on plankton and do not have to be fed wild-caught fish. Mussel farming also takes some pressure off the need for so much industrial agriculture and fish farming, and could therefore help reduce greenhouse gas emissions of food production – in line with the UK’s goal to reach net zero by 2050.

Most mussel farms are typically located in sheltered bays but as space to grow mussels inshore is limited, there isn’t always room to grow mussels at scale.

The Solway coastline in south west Scotland has secured a major funding boost to help with its conservation, restoration and development.

It is the first project to secure support through the National Lottery Heritage Fund's (NLHF) £150m Landscape Connections initiative.

The Solway Coast and Marine Landscape Connections Project, external - Scamp for short - will receive £1.4m to shape plans which will help unlock a further £6.4m.