GreyShuck

A student has recorded a sighting of a rare mushroom species.

Tom Haddon, 41, a student at the University of Northampton, spotted a wrinkled peach mushroom (Rhodotus palmatus) in woodland at Stanwick Lakes Nature Reserve in October.

Online wildlife logging platform iNaturalist said it was the only recorded sighting of the species in Northamptonshire it received in 2025.

One of the oldest nature reserves in Yorkshire is at increasing risk of drying out due to the impact of climate change, a charity has said.

Askham Bog in York, which was founded in 1946, is home to more than 800 species of moths and plants, some of which are more than 500 years old.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT), which maintains the site, has created a fund to protect it in response to the reserve's peat drying out more each year and threats from non-invasive species like Himalayan balsam.

England is “running out of time” to rescue nature-rich ancient woodlands buried under 20th century tree plantations, conservationists have warned.

The Woodland Trust warns the Government is falling far short of targets to restore planted ancient woodlands by 2030, with almost no woods on private land being restored in the last few years.

The charity says it is the “last chance” for what it describes as the country’s forgotten forests: long-standing native woodlands that were clear-felled or poisoned after the Second World War to make way for monoculture plantations of trees such as conifers for timber.

The importance of protecting nature is not up for debate. One in six species in Britain is threatened with extinction. Since 1970, more than half our flowering plants have decreased in areas where they once thrived. In the 1950s, Britain’s hedgehog population was 30m strong. Now, it is believed to be under a million.

All this demands action. The problem is that a lot of the action we’ve taken – mainly in the form of legislation – fails to target the biggest drivers of nature loss. Instead, it bites when we try to build: wind turbines, solar farms, railways or nuclear power plants, making their construction lengthier, more expensive or, in some cases, impossible.

You’ll notice that these are all examples of green infrastructure – precisely the things we’ll need more of in order to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, which ultimately cause habitat loss on a massive scale. Greening the grid and providing clean electricity to homes, transport and industry is one of the most urgent tasks facing us. The only way to do it without generating a cost of living crisis that would dwarf our current predicament (and cause an anti-green backlash) is to get building – and fast.

A wildlife photographer has captured a fox swimming amongst wildfowl in East Yorkshire.

The fox is a regular swimmer at RSPB Blacktoft Sands, where she has chosen to rear her young in a den on an island in the tidal reedbed.

Pete Short, the reserve's manager, said the ducks and geese were relaxed around her in the water because they know she is "not in a position to attack them".

A wildlife trust celebrating its centenary has bought what will become a new nature reserve for £4.6m.

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) was founded by Dr Sydney Long in 1926 after he purchased 435 acres of marsh at Cley next the Sea.

One hundred years on, NWT has announced it has purchased 336 acres of mostly arable land at Wood Norton, near its Foxley Wood site, after receiving £3.8m from the Natural England Nutrient Mitigation Scheme.

A water company is using ancient hedge laying techniques to improve biodiversity near a lake.

Bristol Water said it wants to improve diverse wildlife at Blagdon Lake, a 440-acre reservoir and trout fishery in the Mendip Hills, Somerset.

A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the work includes restoring thinning hedgerows by laying trimmed base stems horizontally.

Environmental campaigners are calling for greater protection for chalk streams.

The streams are one of the world's rarest freshwater habitats and the vast majority are found in England.

The London Wildlife Trust says they do not have sufficient legal protection and wants them to be included in the National Planning Policy Framework, which is open for consultation until Tuesday.

During the 20th Century, we lost 90% of lowland grasslands in England, mainly due to arable conversion and agricultural intensification.

We were starting to turn this around in recent years. Through the UK Government’s environmental land management offer, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship, farmers received financial support to restore and manage these precious habitats.

Recent announcements on SFI, although positive in other areas, dropped a vital action that provided the finance farmers needed to recover our meadows. Without remedy, this could become a missed opportunity for farmers and nature recovery, and see grassland habitat recovery stall.

Inflatable poo emojis have been placed next to a Buckinghamshire river in protest against a water company asking for leniency over pollution rules.

The campaign group, We Own It, said the plan was part of a deal to settle billions of pounds worth of Thames Water's debts.

It wants the company to be brought into public ownership.

A nature reserve manager has said she feels "positive" about the future of seabirds living on a protected island.

Last year more than 25,000 breeding pairs of birds from 12 different species arrived on Coquet Island, in Northumberland - an increase in numbers of many on the previous year.

This included the island's endangered roseate tern population, which recorded its third highest number of pairs at 144.

For many wild birds, our public outdoor places can provide an essential oasis, offering vital food and shelter in an otherwise built-up environment. For people, they are important hubs for socialising, exercise, dog-walking and cultural activities. They also often provide the only accessible place for residents of urban and sub-urban areas to connect with the natural world, something which has been proven to be beneficial for mental health and overall wellbeing.

Public access greenspaces in cities, towns and villages across the UK cover a wide range of habitats, providing a haven for wildlife on our doorstep. The way in which these landscapes are managed also varies, determining which birds, and how many of them, make use of the sites. If we can identify the importance of different greenspaces for birds, and people, we can use the findings to inform management guidance, so that decisions may be made that benefit both.

The project will run during the bird breeding season, from 1 April to 30 June 2026, when many familiar species will be in full song, actively searching for mates, building nests, and raising chicks.