Howe Park Wood Education and Visitor Centre by Peter Hassett
The nature conservation agencies have a duty under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended, to notify any area of land which in their opinion is ‘of special interest by reason of any of its flora, fauna, or geological or physiographical features. Such areas are known as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). In 1989 the then Nature Conservancy Council published guidelines for the selection of biological SSSIs. Since 1991 the Joint Nature Conservation Committee has been the focus for the production and revision of the guidelines.
Click here for more information.: Guidelines for selection of biological SSSIs
The autumn squill, Scilla autumnalis, has bright bluebell-coloured starry flowers. It is rare in the British Isles. It is also tiny, so small that most people could easily clodhop straight over it without noticing how lovely it is. I nearly did just that when I went looking for it in Surrey last summer until a kindly local botanist helped me find it flowering away on a grass verge.
MPs demand legislation to ensure the government delivers on post-Brexit air pollution promises
What is really, truly happening to wildlife across the UK? Is wildlife disappearing, or are the reports of disappearing insects, road-verge dwelling wildflowers being mown to destruction, and swift…
A pink house sparrow has been filmed visiting a garden near Glasgow to feast on bird food
Creation of the world’s largest marine reserve comes a step closer as major companies add support
A project to restore an areas of chalky grassland on campus will help rare plants and creatures to thrive.
New research suggests that large fenced reserves could be the answer to wolf reintroduction in Scotland.
If you’re keen to get into Astronomy, you’re participating in one of the oldest human traditions.
Bees’ Needs Week 2018 Bees’ Needs Week is an annual event coordinated by Defra, working alongside and involving a number of charities, businesses, conservation groups and academic institutions to help …
A unique partnership between BirdLife Sweden and other environmental organizations, academia and business results in more sustainable agriculture and richer biodiversity in Sweden
Chris Packham and James Hansen join other scientists in complaint about ethics
The UK Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (henceforth 25YEP) for England is an exciting opportunity to reframe the direction of nature conservation in Britain. It sets the goal of creating a nature recovery network to protect and restore wildlife.
The £2.15m deal will protect 460 acres of nature-rich farmland in the Peak District
New charity warns Britain’s largest butterfly could be lost within four decades as rising seas turn its habitat into saltmarsh
The Government of Tanzania has decided against building a soda ash factory on the shores of Lake Natron, thus ending a ten-year struggle of the fate of the waters.
Millions of seabirds saved after remote island is officially declared rodent-free for the first time since humans arrived there more than 200 years ago
Last Sunday morning I was walking in the Buckinghamshire Chilterns. I was feeling a bit tired and unenthusiastic, and for once was not really thinking about recording insects. But it’s impossible to completely turn off the entomological instincts, and a fairly large cuckoo bee (or nomad bee, genus Nomada) caught my eye. It was flying among the vegetation at the top of a bank on BBOWT‘s Grangelands nature reserve.
On the small Welsh island of Skomer, puffin numbers are booming. But in former strongholds in Scotland, Norway and Iceland, the picture is ever more worrying
There is a crisis in the countryside – and a massive decline in insect numbers could have significant consequences for the environment
Discover Wildlife have produced a guide to help you identify 10 common orchids.
The Saddleworth fire could prove another reason to ban this disgusting ‘sport, says George Monbiot
People with gardens are being urged to create simple ponds or areas of long grass because sightings of frogs and toads in gardens are drying up.
The long read: In a dank Sussex tunnel, a solitary greater mouse-eared bat roosts each winter. Is he the only one left in Britain?
Tests show drug causes eels to become hyperactive and damages their muscles, possibly hindering their ability to migrate
Recent plant-pollinator network studies have been concerned with the impacts that climate change may have on pollination across various ecosystems, particularly in alpine regions. Many of these studies are investigating ‘phenological mismatch’ as a significant issue that may result from climate change.
Circular economy could recycle more plastic and meet industry demand for raw materials, finds Green Alliance research
What is the UKs ‘best’ invertebrate? Its (just about still) Insect Week so I decided to try and find out. With 1000s if not 10,000s of species to choose from so it was not easy.
A third of British Swifts have been lost since 1995, but the reasons underpinning this decline are unclear.
A pest which leaves a signature trail of destruction on elm leaves reminiscent of the mark of the fictional sword-wielding hero Zorro appears to have arrived in the UK, experts have warned.
Demise of nine out of 13 of the ancient landmarks linked to climate change by researchers
As numbers of breeding pairs plummet in the UK, Swift Awareness week aims to highlight the plight of swifts and the rescue efforts to save them
A white-tailed eagle chick has successfully hatched in Orkney for the first time in more than 140 years, RSPB Scotland has said.
On Monday 21st May, I was fortunate enough to travel to the Fagne-Famenne region of Belgium with Butterfly Conservation to collect Chequered Skippers for translocation to Rockingham Forest. It only took two days and nights for us to find ourselves in a stand-off with a family of boar, assaulted by marauding thunderstorms, dazzled by all manner of creepy-crawlies, deafened by the croaks of lime-green frogs, overawed by beautiful Belgian woodland, and (almost) claimed by a tractor on a blind bend. All in pursuit of an itty-bitty, fuzzy-wuzzy, gold and brown butterfly that vanished from England in 1976.
The secretive mammals are fast disappearing from the Highlands but last-ditch efforts to save them are fraught with challenges
Springwatch presenter says Britain is increasingly ‘a green and unpleasant land’
Today The Wildlife Trusts launch a new campaign – #WaveOfSupport
In an exciting announcement, French drug manufacturer Valneva has announced that they’ve successfully completed their first-ever human trial of a vaccine against the disease. The vaccine, which is reportedly up to 96% effective, might soon be available in the UK and US at a “reasonably low” price.
It is the most miraculous bird, the ultimate winged messenger, exploring our globe, spending its life on the breeze. Sickle-shaped wings silhouetted against the sky, the swift is the fastest of all birds in level flight and remains entirely airborne for 10 months, or more, feeding, sleeping and mating on the wing. These long-lived creatures can clock up 4 million miles, commuting between English summers and African winters.
Plastic and traces of hazardous chemicals have been found in 
Foraging wood ducks, an adder taking a dip and a fearless baby rabbit are among this week’s pick on images from the natural world
Drowning has emerged as a mysterious cause of death amongst groups of young common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), according to research by a team of scientists led by international conservation charity the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
Need help identifying a moth? Want to know which moth species might be on the wing tonight in your area? Now you can find out easily using ‘What’s Flying Tonight’, a new smartphone app. Lead
A colourful sand lizard, a giant baobab tree and a racoon with a head for heights are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Conservation is working: 25 bird species have been saved from the Critically Endangered category this century alone. Read five of the most inspiring stories of birds that have recovered thanks to the dedication of conservationists and communities.
Species including the wildcat and black rat may be lost within a decade while others such as deer are thriving, analysis shows
Join Friends of the Earth’s Great British Bee Count from 17 May to 30 June 2018, and our free app will get you off to a flying start in identifying and recording different species.
We are almost half way through the wader breeding season and what a rollercoaster it has been. We started on some highs, with the return of Mark Whiffin as our Senior Researcher on the ground who was joined by Helen Jones, new to Project Godwit but not to wader research. The reserve team at RSPB Nene Washes had been very busy getting the habitat ready and the predator fences erected. So with the research team in place and the reserve looking fantastic, the godwits started to return and just as the first ones were about to start laying eggs, a huge amount of rain combined with high tides and the whole reserve went under water. This was a massive low point for everyone.
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This summer, Britain will become the first country in the world to dedicate a national week in support of Swifts.
Australian magpies can understand what other birds are saying to each other, a new study has found.
Freshwater supplies have already seriously declined in 19 global hotspots – from China to the Caspian Sea – due to overuse, groundbreaking study shows
Feral cats kill a million native birds every night and have caused extinction of 20 native species
The Common Crane is a rare vagrant to Buckinghamshire and despite reintroduction schemes in the UK in recent years, there were no sightings of this species in 2016 and 2017. So when Warren Claydon…
Exclusive: Study finds 12,000 items worth $4m, including ivory, live orangutans and a huge number of reptiles and birds for the pet trade
Turtle doves are ecologically unique, being Europe’s only long distance migratory dove. They spend just a third of the year on their breeding grounds in Europe and spend the winter on their non-breeding grounds in sub-Saharan West Africa. There are four main factors associated with the decline of turtle doves. These include the loss of […]
Our understanding of the impact of feeding wild birds is far from complete, but we are beginning to unravel the effects of providing foods at garden feeding stations. An important area of research has been to examine how supplementary foods shape populations through its impacts in individuals.
Swifts are in trouble. Their breeding numbers plummeted by 47 percent between 1995-2014, making them amber-listed on the list of Birds of Conservation Concern
Despite vanishing sea ice and shorter winters, Labrador’s polar bear population is among the healthiest in the world – and it could be thanks to the harp seals