The Guardian reports the British Wildlife Photography awards is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a retrospective touring outdoor exhibition. The retrospective will for the first time include all the overall winners, along with a selection of category winners and highly commended images. The competition has captured the imagination of photographers from all over the UK, who have created a unique legacy showcasing British wildlife at its best and inspired millions across the world with outstanding wildlife photography.
Category Archives: News
Activists sue ministers over release of game birds for shooting
The Guardian reports the campaign group Wild Justice has accused ministers of breaching their legal duties to protect sites of high conservation value in England by failing to control the use of large areas of countryside to shoot pheasant and red-legged partridge for sport. Their judicial review will be heard in the high court in November, as complaints mount about the exemptions given by ministers to the shooting industry to continue field sports during the coronavirus pandemic.
Slug killer will be banned across the country because of risks to hedgehogs and birds, ministers announce
The Daily Telegraph reports metaldehyde is being banned after campaigners said it poses a threat to hedgehogs and toads. The poison is very effective in killing gastropods but not only reduces prey for animals which eat slugs and snails, such as hedgehogs and toads, but can build up to toxic levels in those animals, as well as pets and birds if eaten. Wildlife campaigners have pushed for a ban for years but after a legal challenge from the slug pellet company plans for legislation were put on hold. These have now been revived.
Stop clearing out messy brambles to bring Britain’s rarest bird ‘back from the brink’, councils told
The Daily Telegraph reports the willow tit is the fastest-declining resident bird in the country, and one of the lowest in number, and the numbers have been in sharp freefall because their preferred habitat, shrubland, has been destroyed because of an obsession with neatness…. Government quango Natural England is also planning to compel local authorities to create more ‘untidy’ habitats for creatures including the Willow tit.
Willow tit photo by yrjö jyske under creative commons.
Countryside improvements fund ‘could be raided’
BBC News reports a budget designed to fund improvements to Britain’s countryside is set to be raided, the BBC has learned. Cash will be diverted away from ambitious conservation projects and towards protecting farm businesses. The government previously promised that the £3bn currently paid to farms under EU agriculture policy would be wholly used to support the environment. Ministers had said that, after Brexit, farmers would have to earn their subsidies. Farmers would secure the case by undertaking actions such as large-scale forestry or catching flood waters. But many farmers complained that they’d go bust unless the environmental actions were made easier to achieve.
No river in England is free from chemical pollution, government report finds
The Daly Telegraph, BBC News, The Guardian, and The Financial Times report all of England’s rivers have failed their pollution quality tests, meaning the country’s waterways are some of the dirtiest in Europe. The report from Defra found that no river in England is free from chemical pollution. New sampling methods from the Environment Agency found that in all surface water sampled, persistent chemicals were present and being consumed or absorbed by aquatic life.
River Wey photo by Malcolm Oakley under creative commons.
Cows return to London park for first time in 150 years to act as natural lawnmowers
The Daily Telegraph reports cows have been introduced to Wanstead Park in Northeast London for the first time in 150 years to help regenerate the rare acid grassland. The English Longhorns have been carefully selected from City of London Corporation’s 200-strong herd and will be kept in a smaller zone within the park by cutting-edge GPS collars that send an audible signal to the cows when they stray too far.
Ripping up planning rules will put the UK’s wildlife at risk, charities warn Government
The Daily Telegraph reports the Wildlife Trusts have called for a new ‘wildbelt’ designation that would allow land to be protected for nature. The Government has promised a radical shake-up of planning laws that it says will speed up development across the country by giving “automatic” permission to new homes and hospitals. But conservationists and rural groups fear a spread of low quality housing across the countryside which fails to protect wildlife or provide green spaces for everyone.
Experts call for new era for wildlife in UK
BBC News reports conservation experts are calling on the prime minister to commit to protecting nature. The Making Space for Nature panel has written to Boris Johnson advocating “bigger, better and more joined up spaces for nature”. The letter was headed by Prof Sir John Lawton, who chaired a review of wildlife sites in 2010.
The UN’s latest global biodiversity report shows that the world has failed to fully meet any of its targets to halt damage to natural habitats. The announcement follows a report by WWF and the Zoological Society of London that shows animal populations globally have plunged by 68% in the last 50 years.
Everyone can help city wildlife by turning over a corner of their garden
The Telegraph reports Jack Wallington has a dream… to bring back a wide diversity of wildlife to the heart of our urban areas. The article includes detail of local rewilding initiatives in London to increase biodiversity.