Environment news

• Sandeel fishing ban to remain in place

  02-05-2025 18:47 via bbc.com
  Sandeels are a vital source of food for seabirds that live along the UK coastline.
  
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• Buffel kerfuffle: should the invasive grass be listed as a weed of national significance in Australia?

  02-05-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Invasive buffel grass is destroying native rangelands and increasing bushfire risk, but farmers say eradicating it would ‘cripple the beef industry’Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletterBuffel is a simple grass causing an almighty kerfuffle across the country as it progresses through nomination as a weed of national significance.The perennial grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) is native to Africa and was accidentally introduced to the Australian outback via seeds hitchhiking on camel
  
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• How the political consensus on climate change has shattered

  02-05-2025 16:16 via bbc.com
  In 2019, the UK committed in law to reducing its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. Now the political climate has changed.
  
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• ‘Irreplaceable habitat’: planning bill raises fears for England’s chalk streams

  02-05-2025 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Environmentalists worry that the post-Brexit legislation will allow the destruction of rare and fragile ecosystems Walk along the gin-clear River Itchen in Hampshire and you might see otters, salmon, kingfishers and clouds of mayflies, all supported by the unique ecosystem of the chalk stream.The UK has no tropical rainforests or tigers; its wildlife is arguably more modest in appearance. But its chalk streams are some of the rarest habitats in the world – there are only 200, and England b
  
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• Can this lynx born in a zoo learn to live in the wild?

  02-05-2025 12:02 via bbc.com
  It has been moved to Germany's Black Forest in preparation for its release
  
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• Glut of early fruit and veg hits UK as climate change closes ‘hungry gap’

  02-05-2025 11:20 via theguardian.com
  Warm weather means strawberries, aubergines and tomatoes have come weeks earlier than expectedA glut of early strawberries, aubergines and tomatoes has hit Britain as the dry, warm weather has eliminated the traditional “hungry gap”, growers have said.It has been a very dry and sunny spring, with one of the warmest starts to May on record expected. Temperatures could reach 30C at the earliest point on record later this week, forecasters have said. Continue reading...
  
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• I went to an ancient rainforest with 90 artists and lived! Despite my endless cynicism I had a lovely time | First Dog on the Moon

  02-05-2025 08:46 via theguardian.com
  
  I saw the world’s tallest moss and camped beneath a 500-year-old myrtle treeSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are publishedGet all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading...
  
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• Week in wildlife: a leopard cat, a vulture puppet and a hare playing hide and seek

  02-05-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
  
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• Sand groomers v turtles: how wildlife is falling foul of the demand for Insta-perfect beaches

  02-05-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From the turtle-nesting beaches of Italy to Greek island bird havens, across the Mediterranean campaigners are fighting to protect habitats from tourists seeking a picture-perfect holidayIn the summer months in Puglia, southern Italy, the battle for the beaches begins before dawn. Armed with tractors, beach owners flatten every imperfection from the sand, dragging it to sift out anything large enough to be considered waste. As the sun rises, tourists flood the coastline, often unaware of what li
  
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• Rise in percentage of homes with wood burners since 2022, analysis finds

  02-05-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Greatest growth in rural areas as increase in homes with wood-burning stoves contributes to new air pollution hotspotsGrowing numbers of UK homes with wood-burning stoves are leading to new air pollution hotspots.Analysis by led by University College London (UCL) found that the spatial density of burners is related to the amount of air pollution that builds up in neighbourhoods on winter evenings. The greatest density of wood burners was found in urban areas outside major cities. The list was to
  
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• ‘A win-win for farmers’: how flooding fields in north-west England could boost crops

  02-05-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A ‘wetter farming’ project explores rehydrating peatland to help grow crops in boggier conditions while cutting CO2 emissions“I really don’t like the word ‘paludiculture’ – most people have no idea what it means,” Sarah Johnson says. “I prefer the term ‘wetter farming’.”The word might be baffling, but the concept is simple: paludiculture is the use of wet peatlands for agriculture, a practice that goes back centuries in the
  
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• Country diary: Capercaillies need peace to survive, let’s give it to them | Amanda Thomson

  02-05-2025 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Cairngorms national park: They’re in there somewhere, performing their morning breeding displays this time of year. But some things are better left unseenThere’s an inexorable pull into the pinewoods in these spring early mornings. On the loch, the sun-kissed mist is lifting and a male goldeneye displays, tipping its head back as it ripples across the water. Skeins of overwintering geese are still leaving for their breeding grounds farther north, and yet the summer’s chiffchaff
  
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• A climate election? The Coalition wants to take Australia backwards, while Labor is standing still | Clear Air

  02-05-2025 06:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Depending on where things end up after Saturday, the biggest climate push may come from the crossbenchElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignPolls tracker; Election guide; Interactive seat explorerParty policies; Micro parties explained; Full election coverageListen to the latest episode of our new narrative podcast series: GinaGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastIf further confirmation was needed that the Peter Dutton-led Coalition would take
  
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