Latest News

Volunteer recorders play vital role in monitoring the state of nature

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

A partnership of 70 wildlife organisations, research institutes and government agencies has produced the third State of Nature report, the clearest picture to date of the status of UK plant and animal species. The 2019 report, which follows similar assessments in 2013 and 2016, has revealed average declines in distribution and abundance of five per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, since 1970.

Some like it hot, but our wetlands do not

Thursday, October 3, 2019
Heatwaves can spell trouble for our freshwater habitats, as The Wildlife Trusts’ Water Policy Manager Ali Morse explains.

Hot summer days might seem like a blessing. People flock to the beach, flowers bloom and insects thrive, providing food for birds and bats. But a warm summer can be an issue for other species, particularly those that rely on our rivers and wetlands.

River engineering may damage the long-term viability of freshwater species by changing the availability and quality of physical habitat

Monday, September 30, 2019

People have been modifying Scotland’s rivers in many ways for centuries. Legislation is now driving the restoration of engineered river systems to their previous, natural state.

Many of our rivers have been:

Funding Opportunity: UKRI citizen science exploration grants

Friday, September 20, 2019

UK Research and innovation is launching a new £400,000 funding call to encourage researchers and innovators to experiment with citizen science.

Citizen science is an important way in which diverse groups of people can participate and collaborate in research and innovation. This could include crowdsourcing data, working with volunteers to analyse existing datasets, collaborating with communities in designing research programmes, and approaches to innovation that involve diverse groups of people in the innovation process.  

UK’s prized habitats remain in bad condition, government data shows

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Some of the UK's most iconic habitats and species, such as blanket bog and dormice, remain in a bad or poor condition, according to government data.

Some animals, such as the mountain hare, have actually seen their status downgraded due to their ongoing decline, according to the latest environmental assessment of the UK’s European designated sites, published earlier this month by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee  on the European Environment Agency’s data collection website, Eionet.

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