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MPs to debate returning huge swathes of Britain to natural habitat in ‘rewilding’ scheme

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The Independent reports MPs will have to debate returning vast swathes of land to wildernesses after a petition calling for mass rewilding gained more than 100,000 signatures.

It calls for the government to “make a bold financial and political commitment to nature’s recovery” to help slow climate breakdown.

Expanding habitats for native plants, trees and animals such as beavers and allowing wildlife to return will help remove from the atmosphere the carbon dioxide that is largely driving up global temperatures, organisers Rewilding Britain, said.

Photo by Pat Gaines under Creative Commons .

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Common UK plant now close to extinction after ‘farmers thought it was a weed’ and sprayed it with pesticides

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The Telegraph report a rare and beautiful wildflower is being reintroduced to the countryside by Kew Gardens and the plant charity Plantlife after it was mistaken for a weed and killed off by farmers and gardeners.

The red hemp-nettle was once common in southern England and South Wales but the use of herbicides, fertilisers and the spread of highly productive crop varieties have led to it almost vanishing from fields.

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Prescribe a walk in the woods to treat stress, doctors urged 

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The Times reports the Japanese practice of taking contemplative walks in woodland, which has won favour with the Duchess of Cambridge, should be prescribed by the NHS to combat stress, conservationists have said.

Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, was devised 40 years ago as part of a Japanese government initiative to improve the wellbeing of stressed salarymen. It requires walkers to breathe deeply and open their senses to the environment.

An estimated five million Japanese take part, spending time in the dappled sunshine, birdsong and woodland smells to revive body and spirit.

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Chimpanzee meat being eaten in UK as border force urged to bring in DNA testing

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The Telegraph reports chimpanzee meat is being served as a delicacy at British weddings and sold as ‘bush meat’ on market stalls, it has emerged.

The border force is under pressure to introduce DNA testing to identify the meat at customs and has said it would be investing in new technology to tackle the rising issue.

Leading primate scientist Dr Ben Garrod has said he was told by customs officials just weeks ago that a ton of bush meat from West Africa had been confiscated on a flight bound for the US.

He said it was routinely smuggled into Europe and the UK – which could cause the spread of serious disease as the meat is unsanitary and chimpanzees are very genetically similar to humans.

Photo by Andreas under creative commons .
Helping wildlife, News

Guildford’s 10 metre tower to help swifts nest

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Surrey Live reports that Surrey borough council is looking to use a 10 metre tower to tackle declining numbers of swifts in Shalford.

Guildford Borough Council wants to put the tower near a car park and recreation ground on the junction of Kings Road and Chinthurst Lane in Shalford.

The nesting tower will allow up to 56 pairs of birds to breed and has been designed to look like a piece of artwork.

The number of swifts have declined by 53%, according to the RSPB.

News, Spotting wildlife

Bug hunt: Volunteers needed to spot insect’s ‘spittle’

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The BBC News ask ever seen a blob of foam on a plant and wondered how it got there? The frothy spittle, sometimes called cuckoo spit, is actually a telltale sign that an insect known as the spittlebug is feeding on a plant.

Scientists are calling for thousands of volunteers to help record sightings of spittle and spittlebugs across the UK. The information will be used to map the distribution of the insect, in a pre-emptive strike against a deadly plant disease.

Photo of spittle from spittlebug by John Douglas under creative commons.

Helping wildlife, News

Gardeners urged to let lawns run wild and count flowers to help save bees

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The Independent reports while many gardeners prize a well-maintained lawn, conservationists are urging people to leave their mowers in the shed and count wildflowers instead. Wildflower-studded lawns are an increasingly important source of nectar for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, wildlife charity Plantlife said.

The charity is asking people to take part in a “citizen science” project to count the daisies, dandelions and other blooms on their lawn to help experts work out more precisely how important they are for nature.

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Tens of thousands of trees die as HS2 bosses say replacing them more ‘cost-effective’ than watering

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The Independent reports tens of thousands of trees planted to mitigate the environmental impact of the High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) route have died following the 2018 summer drought.

More than one-third of saplings planted in 2017-18 had to be replaced a year later, bosses admitted, as they said putting in new plants was cheaper than keeping the old ones alive. Some 89,000 trees planted between November 2017 and March 2018 later died, out of a total of 234,000 – or 38 per cent.

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White stork pair could become first to breed in wild in UK for centuries

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The Guardian reports white storks nesting on top of an ancient oak tree could become the first wild pair to successfully breed in Britain for hundreds of years. The enormous birds are brooding three eggs on the rewilded Knepp estate, in Sussex, as part of a project to reintroduce the species to south-east England. 

Photo of white storks by Corine Bliek under creative commons.

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Dozens of bee species extinct or on verge of disappearing across UK

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Many species of bee are on the brink of extinction in parts of the UK – and some types have been lost entirely, a report has found.

Climate change, habitat loss, pollution and disease are threatening the pollinators, the analysis of 228 species concluded.  Many are battling to keep up with the changing face of their landscape and increasingly hot weather.

It discovered that 17 species were regionally extinct – including the Great Yellow Bumblebee, the Potter Flower Bee and the Cliff Mason Bee – with 25 types threatened and another 31 of conservation concern.

The bee’s pollinating services are worth £690 million a year to the UK economy.