GreyShuck

A rare bat which is thought to have travelled as far as 1,000 miles (1,609km) has been rescued after crash-landing into a car windscreen.

The Nathusius' pipistrelle, which suffered some bruising in the crash in Whitburn, South Tyneside, has been rehabilitated by carers in Sunderland.

The Durham Bat Group said it was a "once-in-a-lifetime" sighting of a species mainly found in Russia and Poland, and described the find as "significant".

The study by the Stockholm Institute at the University of York, now in its 12th year, has so far found that despite both burning and mowing releasing considerable amounts of carbon during or in the first years after management, it is actually counteracted by increased absorption later on.

Heather management also increases biodiversity and maintains higher water tables in the long term, compared to areas of unmanaged heather, research led by Associated Professor Andreas Heinemeyer has found.

While short term studies say controlled burning is negative, they are misleading, say the university experts.

Five protected heathland sites are to undergo restoration work to help reduce the risk and severity of wildfires.

Throughout summer 2025, firefighters tackled multiple major heath fires in Dorset which destroyed hundreds of hectares of wildlife habitat.

The project will see invasive scrub and coniferous trees removed from lowland heaths in Verwood, Ferndown and Upton.

The bright, cheery signs dot the shoreline like epistles from another era, a time before the calamity.

“Ballyronan marina is a picturesque boating and tourist facility on the shores of Lough Neagh,” says one. “Contours of its historical past embrace the virginal shoreline.”

Another sign boasts that the “rich ecological diversity and abundance of salmon and eels” has sustained communities there for thousands of years, since the stone age.

Butterfly numbers have "vastly improved" over the past year, a conservation charity has said, but "urgent measures" were needed to reverse their decline.

Butterfly Conservation said its annual survey, the Big Butterfly Count, showed the sunniest spring and hottest summer recorded in the UK had created good conditions after 2024's record-breaking lows.

On average, spotters in Devon saw 12.5 butterflies and day-flying moths per count, a 40% increase compared to last year, with the gatekeeper being the most commonly recorded one.

Workers and volunteers at a Wildlife Trust said they were overjoyed after discovering baby beavers had been born at a nature reserve for the first time in more than 400 years.

The new arrivals were spotted at the Nene Wetlands nature reserve, part of Rushden Lakes, in Northamptonshire.

Volunteer Jeannette Smith said after noticing mother Boudica had put on weight, everyone "kept their fingers" crossed that the babies, known as kits, would appear.

All new buildings in England could soon be required to incorporate bird-safe glass and other wildlife-friendly features, after peers in the House of Lords tabled a series of amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

The cross-party measures – backed by Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green and crossbench peers – seek to embed animal welfare into the planning system. Proposals include mandating bird-safe glazing, integrated swift boxes, bat boxes and hedgehog highways, which provide gaps at ground level in fences or walls to allow hedgehogs to move freely between gardens and green spaces.

Supporters argue that the changes would prevent the deaths of millions of wild animals each year. Some 30 million birds are estimated to die annually in the UK following collisions with glass – often suffering slow or painful deaths – yet studies suggest the use of bird-safe glass could reduce fatalities by more than 90%. The UK is already a major producer of such glass, raising the prospect of a boost to domestic industry.

Environmentalists and nature enthusiasts assembled in Bristol at the very first Wild Summit UK to listen to some of the world’s leading experts on wildlife, sustainability and conservation discuss how to turn the tide on one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries – the UK.

Bristol Beacon teemed with people wanting to connect with others, learn and devise solutions to some of our country’s most pressing environmental concerns.

Organised by the Wildlife and Countryside Link, a large environment and wildlife coalition, the aim of the summit was to help the UK government meet its target of protecting 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030.

Underwater cameras around the Isles of Scilly have given scientists a glimpse of how sea life can thrive in well-protected UK waters.

Despite widespread degradation of UK seas from destructive fishing, pollution, and climate change, the waters surrounding the Isles of Scilly appear to be bucking the trend.

This new study used baited underwater cameras and found the Isles of Scilly’s waters support vibrant marine life including sharks, lobsters, octopuses and bluefin tuna.

Kent Wildlife Trust has confirmed the purchase of Hoathly Farm in Lamberhurst, a 400-acre arable site acquired through its largest land appeal to date.

The move, funded by £1.6m in donations, is intended to support one of the county’s most ambitious wilding projects – though some in the farming sector remain wary about what such schemes mean for food production.

The charity says it will transform the intensively farmed arable land into a connected “wilding corridor” stretching between Kent and Sussex.

The UK’s leading insect conservation charities, joined by over 50 organisations, institutions, and community groups, have issued a unified ‘Declaration on UK Insect Declines’. This urgent call to action, made at this week’s Wild Summit event in Bristol, addresses the steep and ongoing losses in the nation’s insect populations, urging governments, businesses, and the public to take immediate steps to reverse the alarming trend.

The declaration, led by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, pushes for a multifaceted approach: widespread restoration of insect-rich habitats, bold reductions in pesticides, stronger legal protections, and major investment in research, monitoring, and public engagement. ‘Reversing insect decline is essential, not optional, for halting nature loss and achieving the UK’s climate and biodiversity goals,’ say the charities.

Hillwakers aiming to bag some of the most remote Munros in Scotland have been asked to look out for a bigger prize - meteorite fragments that landed in the Highlands this summer.

The burning light of an exploding meteor was seen from the Isle of Lewis to Edinburgh and was captured on many cameras as it shot across the sky in the early hours of 3 July.

Researchers from the UK Fireball Alliance (UKFAll) have now identified a 20km (12.4 mile) area near Dalwhinnie where fragments of rock are likely to have landed.