Unearthing the Past to Restore Our Future: The Role of Palaeontology in Nature Recovery

By Joshua Smith, NE Senior Specialist Palaeontologist Fossils represent evidence of past life stored in the sequence of rocks below our feet. Like the pages of a book, England's rock record tells the story of changing continents, climates and environments …

Nature Towns and Cities Programme: Transforming Urban Landscapes for People and Planet 

Two children, one boy and one girl, wearing gardening gloves and reaching into a garden bed with interest.

By Oliver Harmar, Chief Strategy Officer Creating a Legacy of Thriving Urban Nature  With today’s start of the Nature Towns and Cities programme, I'm filled with optimism.  This isn’t just another initiative, it’s a game-changer for how we think about nature …

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 …

Creating Nature Towns and Cities conference

Nature Towns and Cities is a partnership between Natural England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Trust working to ensure everyone in the UK can access the benefits of nature and green spaces.  We're delighted to invite you …

A new peat map for England 

By Dr Ruth Waters, Director for Evidence, Natural England, and David Jones, Senior Responsible Officer for the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment, Defra England’s peat deposits are one of our most valuable national assets. They’re our largest carbon store, they …

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 …

A New Era for England's Nature: Celebrating the Publication of the second Local Nature Recovery Strategy

By Emily Butterwick – Northamptonshire LNRS Senior Officer This month we celebrate the publication of North Northamptonshire Council’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). It marks a significant milestone towards our country’s efforts to tackle biodiversity loss, climate change and improving …

AI4Peat - Innovative use of AI to map and restore our precious peatlands

Posted by: and , Posted on: - Categories: Climate change, Evidence, Landscapes, Mapping, Monitoring, Nature, Peat, Science and evidence

AI4Peat Project team members: Anne Williams, Michelle Johnson, Samuel Richardson, Nick Tomline, Martha Tabor, Phil Shea. Restoring Peatlands Peatlands are among the UK's most valuable ecosystems, playing a crucial role in carbon storage, water regulation, and biodiversity. However, many peatland …

The North can be a powerhouse for Nature and growth

Marian Spain speaking at Convention of the North, with host Anita Rani

"Nature is vital to our economy our health and our security. The North has the natural assets that can help create the places people want to live, work and invest in and that will keep them happy and healthy, as …