Environment news

• Privatising the wilderness: the Tasmanian project that could become a national park test case

  10-04-2021 22:00
  
  Conservationists say newly released documents call into question the government’s policy of backing tourism developments on protected public landHalls Island, on Lake Malbena in the Walls of Jerusalem national park, is not easy to reach. It takes a strenuous eight-hour walk or a helicopter ride to get there.Its remoteness meant it was relatively little known until it became the site of the type of conservation battle that Tasmania has become famous for in a storied history that takes in fi
  
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• Bees bounce back after Australia’s black summer: ‘Any life is good life’

  10-04-2021 22:00
  
  Australia’s bushfires were devastating for bee populations. But steady rain and community efforts are seeing the return of the pollinatorsYou could say that Adrian Iodice is something of a stickybeak neighbour. On Iodice’s once-lush bushland property, nestled within the Bega Valley of New South Wales, there stands a majestic rough-barked apple tree that the beekeeper used to, every now and then, jam his head into.In the hollow of the trunk lived a flourishing wild colony of European
  
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• Sunflowers: a feast for your eyes, and for pollinators | Alys Fowler

  10-04-2021 12:00
  
  Now’s the time to sow these jolly giants, our gardening expert says, but beware: bigger isn’t always betterThe annual sunflower needs no introduction; it is a thing full of cheer, always turning its head to the sun to entice the bees. It is as marvellous in seed as it is in flower and, if left in place, will have songbirds flocking to enjoy its bounty all autumn long.The brilliant yolk-yellow sorts are well known – every supermarket, garden centre and hardware store will have a
  
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• A bug’s life: how a volunteer army is putting Britain’s wildlife on the record

  10-04-2021 11:30
  
  Amateur nature recorders are providing vital data on beetles, soldierflies and a host of lesser-known insectsAshleigh Whiffin’s day job as assistant curator of entomology is to look after National Museums Scotland’s vast collection of preserved insects. But her passion for the creatures doesn’t end when she goes home; in her spare time she spends hours recording and verifying sightings of a specific group of large carrion beetles in the family silphidae.“Silphidae are abs
  
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• ‘Fishing is a form of meditation’ – it’s always been my escape

  10-04-2021 08:00
  
  I became obsessed as a boy and am still hooked. With the mental benefits of angling well documented, here are some of the best British spots to cast off your worries
  • Top five British wildernesses for fishingIt would start with the cellar door. My dad’s friend Darcy would park outside our house with a wooden door strapped to the roof of his Ford Zephyr. Together they would then unscrew the hinges of our cellar door and add it to Darcy’s. With the two doors lashed down they woul
  
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