The Guardian reports the UK government is planning to appoint a special envoy for nature for the first time, as the foreign secretary, David Lammy, seeks to put the UK at the centre of global efforts to tackle the world’s ecological crises, the Guardian has learned.
Labour will also appoint a new climate envoy, after the Tories abolished the post over a year ago, a move that dismayed foreign governments and climate campaigners.
The Guardian reports in the picturesque area in south-west England, farmers and conservationists are turning around the long decline.
Exmoor national park, like all of England’s national parks, has failed to protect nature since they were set up 75 years ago. Only 15% of Exmoor’s sites of special scientific interest are in favourable condition.
One reason is that most national park land is privately owned by farmers, who embraced fertiliser and pesticide-fuelled intensification in past decades, decimating wildlife. The parks own a tiny proportion of the land and have few powers outside planning controls.
But Holly Purdey is trying to reconcile farming and fauna. She took on the 81-hectare (200-acre) Horner farm in Exmoor national park in 2018, challenging herself to produce beef and lamb while restoring nature to land she says had been “trashed” by intensive farming.
BBC News reports thousands of wildflowers are being planted in the Lake District as part of efforts to restore traditional hay meadows.
More than 5,500 are being plug planted during September at Boon Crag Farm on the shores of Coniston.
Country Living reports wildlife charities are calling for beavers to be released into rivers across England and Wales – putting an end to enclosures and making the animals officially wild.
Last week, the Wildlife Trusts published A vision for the return of beavers to England and Wales, a report that urges the government to bring the animals back to rivers and asks for “illegal wild populations to be allowed to stay.
BirdGuides reports a new report published by The Wildlife Trusts, Embracing Nature, has identified drought as the current leading threat to their nature reserves.
The Wildlife Trusts, which are among the UK’s largest landowners with 2,600 nature reserves covering nearly 100,000 ha, also point to pollution, invasive species and habitat fragmentation as high risks. Drought is also considered to be the leading threat for the next 30 years, followed by other climate-driven dangers such as heatwaves and wildfires.