GreyShuck

Restoring nature and tackling global warming are key to keeping Dartmoor “special”, the Prince of Wales has said.

The Duchy of Cornwall and Central Dartmoor Landscape Recovery Project (CDLR) launched a new project to “create a resilient environment” and meet the changing needs of Dartmoor’s communities.

In a foreword to the Landscape Vision project, the Prince of Wales said: “Dartmoor is a magnificent and complex ecosystem – the balance between nature and people has evolved for thousands of years to shape the landscape we recognise today.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed champions private investment in nature recovery as the government launches a new call for evidence (12 June).

Speaking to leading figures from financial institutions, property, retail and sustainability sectors at a roundtable event in London, the Environment Secretary emphasised the importance of fostering partnerships between the public and private sectors to support economic growth while powering nature recovery.

Businesses across the UK, whether in food and agriculture, construction, finance, or retail, rely on a healthy natural environment to operate, grow and innovate.

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.