GreyShuck

Volunteers who have been helping scientists to understand more about our oceans said connecting with nature had transformed their lives.

Members of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust's The Bay Group search for shark egg cases on the shoreline in Morecambe Bay.

Their findings provide a valuable insight into more than 40 different shark species that are found in UK waters.

The long-awaited, first-ever strategy to protect Northern Ireland's peatlands has been launched.

It seeks to protect and restore all semi-natural peatlands in Northern Ireland to functioning ecosystems by 2040, through a series of 26 actions to meet five objectives.

It includes a consultation on restricting sales of peat and peat products, a wildfire strategy, and the creation of a register of peatlands to help identify those sites most immediately in need of support.

A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND masterplan has been launched to boost nature recovery throughout Essex.

The Essex Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) is designed to assist communities in restoring the countryside, creating more homes for wildlife, and improving the natural environment for future generations.

Developed over a two-year period in collaboration with farmers, landowners, community groups, and environmental organisations, the LNRS aims to reverse decades of decline in Essex's natural habitats.

A species of caddisfly, thought to have been extinct in Britain since 2016, has been found during a species survey at Cors Goch, Anglesey.

Natur am Byth (NaB), Wales‘ flagship species recovery programme, conducted the survey in partnership with RSPB and North Wales Wildlife Trust to record the caddisfly species living on the wetland habitat.

Surveyors deployed light traps on the fens during July and August, specifically looking for one of the NaB target species, Limnephilus tauricus. They were delighted to discover that the light traps had caught a species of caddisfly that is even rarer, Limnephilus pati.

As Yorkshire Water’s South Elmsall wastewater treatment works wetland project nears completion, the utility donates some of the plants from its ‘nature-based solution’ to another one - the Howardian Hills National Landscape’s ‘Forgotten Flora’ project.

The South Elmsall wastewater wetland is a nature-based solution designed to treat storm flows during heavy and prolonged rainfall. The wetland project has helped to reduce storm overflows discharging into Frickley Beck – a tributary of the river Don.

The 30,000m2  (or five football pitches) of interconnected ponds have been planted with 220,000 plants that treat 440 l/s of diluted storm and wastewater as it travels through the wetland. Pollutants and nutrients, such as Phosphorus, are broken down and digested by the plants and natural bacteria.

A wildlife charity has launched a fundraising appeal to help protect "precious, wild habitat" from "vanishing fast".

Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust (SRWT) want to raise £50,000 to look after and restore wild heathland across South Yorkshire.

According to Natural England 85% of the UK's heathland has been lost in the past 200 years, making it rarer than tropical rainforests.

A Kent conservation charity is aiming to raise £3m to restore wildlife and reverse species decline.

Kent Wildlife Trust says its Nature Restoration Fund will support the efforts to protect and expand the county's most diverse and threatened habitats.

More than 200 species in the county are threatened or endangered and 10% face extinction, according to the State of Nature in Kent 2021 report. It also says almost 80% of rivers, lakes and groundwater bodies are in poor condition.

A tropical sea slug that was found in UK waters for the first time could be evidence of warming seas affecting marine wildlife, an expert has warned.

Spurilla neapolitana is normally found in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and western Atlantic, but was discovered off the south coast of Cornwall last week.

Wildlife volunteer Charlotte Cumming took photos of the 10mm-long creature - sometimes called a hair curler slug - at Prisk Cove during a survey for a charity.

A new study of recently restored heathland has found species are returning faster than expected.

The specialist habitat will take decades to fully establish but the project has identified more than 70 different species already thriving.

Forestry England has restored 170 hectares of heathland in the New Forest since 2019 with a further 190 hectares planned over the next 5 years.

Every new seal pup monitored in an estuary this year has died, mainly from a condition called mouth rot, a conservation research group has said.

For the last two years, the Tara Seal Research team has been monitoring common seals and their pups at Seal Sands and Greatham Creek in the Tees estuary. As part of its Tees Estuary Seal Study the team counted 21 pups at Seal Sands but found they had all died weeks later in the Tees Bay area.

Dr Sue Wilson, from the conservation team, said the pups dying before they reached two months old was "devastating".

Hedgehogs, salmon and birds have been put at risk by this summer’s dry conditions, Natural England has said, as drought conditions continue.

The government nature watchdog addressed the National Drought Group of government officials and stakeholders in its meeting on Monday to warn of the dire effect on wildlife the dry summer weather has had.

Hedgehogs and garden birds have been struggling particularly because they have been unable to dig for worms and other insects in the dry, compacted soil. They have also been dehydrated, with no puddles to drink from.

Sewage pours into rivers of English and Welsh national parks at twice rate elsewhere

Exclusive: Campaigners attack ‘outrageous’ situation, saying waters in protected areas should be cleanest Damian Carrington Environment editor Tue 16 Sep 2025 01.00 EDT

Sewage is pouring into the rivers inside national parks at twice the rate that is occurring outside the protected areas, it can be revealed.

Campaigners described the situation as “outrageous” and said rivers and lakes in national parks in England and Wales should be the cleanest and most protected in the country.

There are 464 water company overflow sites inside national parks and the average duration of sewage spills for each site in 2024 was 549 hours – the equivalent of eight hours a day for two months. In total, there were 254,808 hours of sewage outflows in national parks last year.