Discover Wildlife report it may sound like something from a dystopian movie, but ‘Stage Zero’ has just created a paradise.
Something remarkable is happening in a quiet corner of Somerset in south-west England: the creation of an Eden. And it’s all thanks ‘Stage Zero’ – or ‘Stage 0’ – an innovative river restoration technique originally developed in Oregon, USA.
A year after completing an ambitious Stage Zero project on the Holnicote Estate in Somerset, rangers say the site is unrecognisable.
News that the UK government plans to ban disposable vapes in England from 1 June 2025 has been welcomed by the RSPCA. The charity, which has run a #VexedAboutVapes campaign, has called the announcement “great news for wildlife”.
The use of vapes in England grew by 400 per cent between 2012 and 2023. An estimated five million single-use vapes are thrown away in general waste or littered every week in the UK, according to research by Material Focus.
RSPCA wants nature lovers to embrace the call of autumn and sign up to be a Wildlife Friend.
The charity is calling on people to don their boots and gardening gloves and have a go at tasks that will help change the lives of animals for the better.
There are 24 self-service tasks for volunteers to complete this year, with different tasks set for each of the four seasons. Points are earned when completing tasks and volunteers who earn a set number or more during a season are awarded a seasonal certificate.
Some of the tasks include:
An RSPB press release focuses on the Birdcrime report, which reviews the past 15 years, reveals 1,344 birds of prey were illegally killed between 2009-2023, with crimes continuing to emerge. These criminal acts target threatened species including White-tailed Eagles, Hen Harriers and Red Kites. There were 89 confirmed incidents in Northern Ireland in the past 15 years, yet not a single prosecution.
The RSPB is calling for stronger pesticide legislation and greater resourcing for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to stop bird of prey persecution. Birds of prey – also known as raptors – are protected by law under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985.
Plant Based News reports Forestry England has warned people against disposing of Halloween pumpkins by leaving them in the woods for wildlife.
When October 31 rolls around, social media users often encourage people to leave out leftover pumpkins for animals to eat. But doing so can make some animals, including hedgehogs, unwell.
Pumpkins are not naturally found in British woodlands and are not a normal part of the diet of native animals.
Ahead of the Budget announcement on Wednesday 30th October, read about three key priorities The Wildlife Trusts will be watching for.
iNews reports how dead branches and twigs can be a surprisingly useful resource for a range of garden animals, from insects and other invertebrates to small mammals and birds.
They can be turned into simple log piles, obelisks made from long branches or even an ambitious “dead hedge”.
Now is a good time to begin any such projects because autumn and winter are the right months for pruning many trees and shrubs. It is easier to see what needs to be removed once their branches are bare.
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Ducks are still commonly killed with lead shot in England despite a ban and voluntary moves by shooting groups, new research shows.
Lead is highly toxic to both humans and wildlife, and using it to kill ducks has been illegal in England since 1999. In 2020, leading shooting organisationsannounced a plan to end the use of lead shot for hunting all live quarry. The British government is due to review legislation on lead ammunition in the coming months.
Born Free Foundation report the Labour government has published details of badger culling licenses that could result in the targeting of almost 40,000 additional badgers in 2024. These culls, across the High-Risk bovine TB area in England, will be in addition to the 230,000 that have been killed since licensed culling was introduced in 2013.
The first ever National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy has been published by leading wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS).
The strategy has been created in response to trends highlighted in the State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report, also published by BHPS and PTES, which revealed that native hedgehogs have declined by between 30-75% in rural areas since 2000. To tackle this ongoing decline, BHPS and PTES have worked collaboratively with over 30 leading conservation NGOs, academics, educational institutions, hedgehog rehabilitators and organisations within the transport and farming sectors*, to create a topline, national strategy that can guide the change that’s desperately needed.
More on the RPSB website here.