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Biodiversity

Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve & Kew Millennium Seed Bank: Sowing Seeds for Nature’s Recovery

A special event at Aston Rowant NNR with local grassroots walking group. © Nicola Schafer.

By Mick Venters, Senior Reserve Manager at Aston Rowant NNR, Natural England. Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve (NNR) is a hidden gem in the Chiltern Hills, and I am fortunate to have spent over twenty years as the Reserve Manager …

Wildlife licensing: enabling development while protecting Nature - annual summary 2024  

A bat hunting an insect

By Gemma Ole's, Deputy Director, Natural England Wildlife Licensing Service At Natural England we help balance economic growth with nature protection. Wildlife licensing is a vital tool to enable this. Our licences are broad ranging and allow development and other …

Growing together - how community-led green infrastructure delivers health and climate benefits

Hands holding seedlings. © Pexels/ Shvetsa

In Britain's increasingly urban landscape, where 85% of the population lives in towns and cities, green infrastructure has become essential for collective wellbeing. Yet one-third of people cannot access quality natural spaces within 15 minutes of home - a deficit …

Action to restore or create at least 38,877 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat has been undertaken since January 2023

By Dr Ruth Hall, Principal specialist for habitats at Natural England Today, for the first time we can start to understand our progress towards the Environment Act habitat target, which is to restore or create at least 500,000 hectares of …

Protecting one of England's rarest marine habitats: Natural England's work on maerl

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Evidence, Marine environment, Monitoring, Natural England, Nature
Maerl researcher and academic Professor Jason Hall-Spencer showing Phumatolithon calcareum maerl. Credit Matt Slater

By Angela Gall, Marine Senior Officer Hidden beneath the waves along the south coast of Cornwall lies an ancient marine habitat, maerl beds. These pink, twiglet-shaped rhodoliths are free-living, calcified red seaweeds forming intricate, three-dimensional structures on the seabed. They're …

Guest blog: Benefits of engaging local communities in BNG

Members of a community work on a project to increase biodiversity on a London thoroughfare

Rosie Whicheloe, Senior Planning Ecologist for a local authority in London, explains how she’s looking at the benefits of public engagement in BNG for the communities in which they live. Delivering social value alongside BNG is incredibly important in urban …

Two more years: extending ambitions for Nature recovery

Tony walks with King Charles along a path in the Lincolnshire NNR. It's a beautiful sunny day, the King wears a light beige coloured suit. Tony has a blue shirt - he carries a pair of binoculars in his hand.

By Tony Juniper CBE, Chair of Natural England I was delighted to be invited to serve a third term as Chair of Natural England and look forward to continuing to lead the organisation as it adopts and implements a new …

Using our evidence to plan our approach to the management of Dartmoor's SSSIs

A view across Dartmoor with a large rocky formation in the foreground

Today we have published a Review of the evidence for the management of Dartmoor’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). As an evidence-led organisation, we use this to inform our advice to farmers and stakeholders on Dartmoor. Our job is …

Nature Towns and Cities: Creating Greener Neighbourhoods and Brighter Futures 

David Drake, Director, People & Nature at Natural England Did you know 47% of people do not currently have access to green space within 15-minutes' walk of home? Nature Towns and Cities aims to transform this reality, enabling millions of …

Mountain hares in decline: New research reveals diminishing numbers in the Peak District 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Evidence, Monitoring, Natural England, Nature, Science and evidence, Wildlife

By Dr Carlos Bedson The Peak District is home to England's only population of mountain hares, a remarkable Arctic species introduced here in the 1870s by sporting landowners. These cold-adapted mammals, with their distinctive seasonal white winter coats, have become …