Prince Charles’ half-term nature challenge: plant seeds and paint a paperweight

The Daily Telegraph and Sky report Prince of Wales urges bored children to pull on their wellies and engage with the natural world on their doorsteps.

 “It’s at this time of year that all sorts of wonderful things start happening as nature wakes up the world from its winter sleep,” he said in a video message recorded at Highgrove last week. “What I love to see is how each of these things depends on everything else happening – how the millions of tiny organisms in the soil make it possible for the flower to grow; how the trees become home to lots of insects and give shelter to birds as they build their nests. “But you wouldn’t believe it, the way everything works together goes even deeper. You can see this if you look really closely at the patterns of things.”

Acknowledging the frustrations of being stuck indoors for months on end during the pandemic, the Prince, a lifelong advocate of the natural world, urged children to take a really close look at nature as it slowly changes, to note how “the same patterns occur over and over again”. 

Urban beavers to be released by Wildlife Trusts during record comeback

Photo by Pat Gaines under Creative Commons

The Daily Telegraph reports perhaps one of the last things one would expect to see when popping to the high street would be a beaver busily foraging materials for its dam. However, the Wildlife Trusts are planning the first in a wave of urban beaver releases, with a pair due to be transplanted to central Shrewsbury, and influential figures behind the “rewilding” plans say this is the beginning of a drive to get them in most towns and cities.

The Wildlife Trusts have identified a 12-hectare site in the centre of the large Shropshire town which is perfect to host the furry rodents. It is currently being prepared for their release next year. 

Have you gone back to nature in lockdown?

Enjoy more photos like this one taken during lockdown in our Lockdown Photo Gallery

Oxford Mail reports Oxford artist Diana Bell has made contact with a team of researchers from Oxford and Cambridge universities who are studying whether people have reacted to nature in a different way during lockdowns.

Ms Bell has been drawing or painting from nature every day since the first lockdown began last March. Garden Ecologies by Professor Jamie Lorimer and his research team aims to understand how human to nature relationships have been affected and whether an interest in nature sparked during the lockdowns will persist. 

Remember to check out FNW’s Lockdown Nature Photo Gallery, and if you’ve been enjoying nature as part of your lockdown experience, add your photos to the gallery by emailing them to fnwildlife@gmail.com.

New £10 million fund to drive private sector investment in nature

The Government have today announced nature projects which tackle climate change, create and restore habitats, or improve water quality could soon benefit from a new £10 million fund to help them both benefit the environment and attract private sector investment, the Government has announced today (10 February).

The Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund will provide grants of up to £100,000 to environmental groups, local authorities, businesses and other organisations to help them develop nature projects in England to a point where they can attract private investment. 

Northumberland lynx trial: New bid to introduce cats to forest

Lynx photo by tiny_packages under creative commons

The BBC reports a second bid to introduce lynx to a Northumberland forest is to be made two years after it was rejected. The Lynx UK Trust had wanted to release Eurasian wildcats into Kielder Forest but the government rejected the plan saying it lacked “depth”. The trust said it had addressed shortfalls in its bid which aims to save Kielder being “overrun” with deer. However, the National Sheep Association (NSA) said lynx would prey on “easy meals” such as sheep and red squirrels. Lynx became extinct in the UK in about AD700 because they were hunted for their fur. 

Volunteers needed for stargazing study to see if the pandemic has dimmed light pollution

iNEWS reports people are being urged to head outside to count stars on a clear night this week, as part of a national campaign to measure light pollution levels across the country.  Last year’s survey revealed more than 60 per cent of participants lived with light pollution. The countryside charity CPRE – formerly known as the Campaign to Protect Rural England – wants to find out if the pandemic has improved the situation with this year’s count, which runs from 6-14 February. 

London Resort: Wildlife charities unite against theme park

The BBC reports three conservation charities have come together to object against plans for a theme park on a “nationally important” wildlife site in Kent. The London Resort is currently going through the planning application process and, if approved, work could start on Swanscombe’s marshes in 2022. Kent Wildlife Trust, Buglife and the RSPB want it to be declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Andy Martin, from London Resort, said it planned to “enhance” the habitat. If approved, the brownfield site would be transformed into the first major theme park to be built in Europe in nearly 30 years. The 535-acre site would have two theme parks, a water park, hotels, shopping centres and entertainment venues, and is ultimately expected to support 17,000 jobs. 

Sandringham welcomes efforts to bring back Britain’s biggest bird of prey

The Daily Telegraph exclusively reports wandering through the Sandringham Estate, one may hope to spot a skylark in full song – or perhaps even a member of the Royal Family out for a stroll. Soon, however, tourists are likely to be startled by the sight of the giant wings and hooked beak of Britain’s largest eagle as the royals welcome the work of local re-wilders hoping to bring them back. Wild Ken Hill – a farm recently taken over by re-wilders working to restore lost nature to Norfolk – is about a 10-minute drive from the royals’ home in the county. 

Nature on the doorstep as front gardens bloom again

 The TimesDaily Telegraph, and Daily Mail report they have been paved over, concreted and covered with gravel, more noted for their bins and bicycles than their begonias. But after decades of neglect, Britain’s front gardens are greening up. The amount of front garden greenery across the nation has grown by an area seventy times the size of Hyde Park since 2015, according to the Royal Horticultural Society. The gardening charity says the increase in front gardens that have been planted up should bring far-ranging benefits to people’s health and wellbeing, as well as the environment and wildlife. 

‘Reservoirs of life’: how hedgerows can help the UK reach net zero in 2050

Photo by Andrew under creative commons

The Guardian reports one New Year’s Day, ecologist Rob Wolton came up with an unusual resolution – to spend the next 12 months studying a hedge 40 metres from his house in the middle of Devon. He wanted to make a list of every plant, animal and fungus that used it. Why? Because a wildlife-enthusiast friend challenged him to do it during a long car journey.