Environment news

• Plants produce more nectar when they ‘hear’ bees buzzing, scientists find

  21-05-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  Researchers suggest buzzing noises could be used as environmentally friendly way to enhance crop pollinationPlants can “hear” bees buzzing and serve up more nectar when they are nearby, scientists have found.The research suggests that plants are a more active partner than previously thought in their symbiotic relationship with pollinators. The behaviour could be a survival strategy that favours giving nectar and sugar to bees over so-called nectar robbers that do not offer plants any
  
  Read more

• Wild camping on Dartmoor is legal, supreme court rules

  21-05-2025 11:23 via theguardian.com
  Case came to supreme court after court of appeal determined the term ‘open-air recreation’ included campingWild camping will be allowed on Dartmoor after the supreme court ruled that a multimillionaire landowner was wrong to ban it on his land.Dartmoor was – until the legal action – the only place in England where wild camping without the permission of the landowner was enshrined in law. In Scotland, people have enjoyed this right since 2003. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Fires drove record loss of world’s forests last year, ‘frightening’ data shows

  21-05-2025 06:01 via theguardian.com
  Burning, worsened by global heating, overtook farming and logging as biggest cause of destruction of tropical forestsThe destruction of the world’s forests reached the highest level ever recorded in 2024, driven by a surge in fires caused by global heating, according to “frightening” new data.From the Brazilian Amazon to the Siberian taiga, Earth’s forests disappeared at a record rate last year, losing an area the size of Italy to agriculture, fires, logging and mining, a
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!