The Guardian reports a building firm that carried out demolition work at a site known to be inhabited by bats has been handed a £600,000 fine, the largest ever issued by a court for a wildlife crime, according to police.
Bellway, the housebuilders, admitted damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place in Artillery Place, Greenwich, south-east London, in 2018, where soprano pipistrelle bats had been documented the previous year.
The Guardian and The Independent report allowing trees and woodland to regenerate through the natural dispersal of seeds should become the default way to restore Britain’s forest cover, according to a new report. Natural regeneration brings the most benefits for biodiversity, is cost-effective and may sequester more carbon than previously thought, argues Rewilding Britain.
The Guardian reports the willow tit has become Britain’s fastest declining resident bird, and one of half a dozen imperilled woodland species, according to the definitive survey of the country’s birds. Numbers of the diminutive tit, a subspecies unique to the UK, have plummeted by 94% since 1970, and by a third since 2008.
The Guardian shares a photo essay – from a former airfield to a disused explosives factory, many of the country’s forgotten places are teeming with life as nature reinhabits abandoned manmade structures
The Daily Telegraph reports with long journeys to go ‘birding’ curtailed by the Covid-19 regulations, sales of tiny ‘noc-mig’ microphones to record migrating birds flying overnight went up. They managed to discover that the Common Scooter is much faster than previously thought with 800 households logging data that showed it crossed the UK in a matter of days rather than weeks.
The Guardian reports Environment agency officials were under pressure on Monday to explain exactly what consent they gave to carry out extensive work on the banks of a protected river in England.
Officials from the EA, Natural England and the Forestry Commission moved in last week to stop the work along the River Lugg outside Kingsland, near Leominster in Herefordshire.
The EA said a legal notice requiring the works to stop immediately was served on the landowner by Natural England earlier last week…But the landowner John Price, a potato and cattle farmer, has insisted that he was asked to do the work by the EA to try to tackle flooding in the area.
I NEWS reports England’s national parks have collectively announced a ten-year drive to make the land work better for nature and the public by improving health and wellbeing and inspiring a deeper connection with the environment. Under the plans, the parks will work with doctors to provide nature prescriptions such as “health walks” for people with mental health issues. And they will work with the Youth Hostel Association to offer trips to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Independent reports the amount of woodland across England could be doubled from its current level of 10 per cent without impacting other important habitats, high quality arable farmland or peat bogs, detailed new mapping has revealed. The map, drawn up by Friends of the Earth and mapping consultancy Terra Sulis shows how much forest and other areas of woodland exist in rural areas in every local authority in England, and highlights potential new areas for tree planting.
The Independent reports the two-year plan will encourage viewers to help plant and grow trees in an effort to help tackle the worsening climate crisis. The BBC said the 750,000 target was selected to match the number of children who will be starting primary school in September. The initiative, called Plant Britain, will be launched on Sunday in a special episode of the programme.
The Independent reports people have always been suspicious and fearful of bats so we needed little encouragement to point the finger their way. Some media outlets have even called for a global genocide of all bats. Of course, all this recrimination is a defence mechanism that stops us having to look closer to home. It’s a shame we’re so quick to judge because bats are wonderful, fascinating creatures. They have been on Earth for more than 50 million years – far longer than humans – and there are more than 1,400 different species of them, meaning around 20 per cent of the world’s mammal species are bats.