By Mike Prince, Natural England The England Peat Map project is mapping the extent, depth and condition of England’s peat, using new and existing field survey data, satellite Earth observation, and a variety of modelling methods. Mapping England’s peat can …
Blog by Tony Juniper CBE, Chair of Natural England I’m writing this blog from COP 15 in Montreal where nations of the world have come together to discuss one of the most urgent issues of our age: how do we …
By Dr. Peter Brotherton, Director of Science, Natural England There can sometimes seem to be a lot of COPs. Periodic ‘Conferences of the Parties’ (COPs) are held for all the United Nation environmental conventions. In the UK, greatest prominence is …
By Jim Milner - PEF Project Manager, Natural England and Jordan Champ - Senior Policy Advisor, Lowland Peat, Defra In our first blog post in September, we introduced paludiculture, a system of farming on rewetted peat soils. Paludiculture offers an …
The River Wye is an iconic river of importance to many people and the local economy. But we know the river’s water quality is being affected by pollution from farming as well as the water industry, home discharges and run-off …
By Oliver Harmar, Chief Operating Officer, Natural England Twelve months ago, I was lucky enough to be standing overlooking the fabulous wetlands of the Flashes of Wigan and Leigh, listening to the inspirational words of Clare Shaw, a local poet: …
By Jonathan Larwood, Principal Adviser – Geodiversity, Natural England The world’s first International Geodiversity Day will be celebrated on the 6th October. This annual event was established by UNESCO in November 2021 following a proposal from 109 international and national …
By Stephanie Bird-Halton - Director of National Delivery Protection of beavers and why it’s important On 1 October 2022 the legislation changed to protect wild-living beavers in England. Beavers are now listed in Schedule 2 of the Conservation of Habitats …
On 27 August 2022, the Government announced a new £5m fund to promote the use of peatlands for sustainable farming [1] – the Paludiculture Exploration Fund (PEF), which seeks to unlock barriers to making commercial paludiculture a reality. In this …
The Secretary of State has now launched an 8-week consultation on the Biodiversity Metric to be used for the purpose of calculating biodiversity net gain as required under the 2021 Environment Act[1]. The Biodiversity Metric is a key tool that …