Landmark for Nature recovery receives the royal seal of approval

Secretary of State, Emma Reynolds, Tony Juniper and His Majesty, King Charles III at the Seven Sisters National Nature Reserve

By Tony Juniper CBE, Chair of Natural England Nature recovery has taken a major step forward this week with the unveiling of one of the country’s most important National Nature Reserves by a long-standing champion of the natural world – His …

Healthy Outdoors: Strengthening the Evidence for Nature Based Health Interventions 

4 female volunteers in high vis carrying bags of garden waste.

By Dave Bell, Principal Officer: Health & the Environment, Natural England  As studies continue to show the profound benefits of nature and outdoor activity for public health, the Healthy Outdoors guide has been created to address a critical evidence gap: the need for …

Introducing Explore: helping local councils make better decisions for people and places

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Development, Growth, Nature, Planning

Local authorities make a wide range of decisions that shape how places grow and how communities thrive, often working across complex systems and competing priorities. To support this, Natural England and partners have developed Explore: a practical framework that brings …

How Biodiversity Net Gain helps people and places thrive

Volunteer in wellies and winter outdoor gear on the bank of a river, climbing away from the river.

By Greg Shaw, Senior Officer – Biodiversity Net Gain (Strategic Solutions and Biodiversity Net Gain Team). Across England, many communities face depleted green spaces and health inequalities. Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) can offer a clear link between development, wellbeing and …

What lies beneath: the data shaping the future of offshore wind energy

Jumping bottlenose dolphin.

By Alex Banks, Principal Specialist, Ornithology. Offshore wind development is a vitally important part of the UK government approach to tackling the climate crisis and addressing energy security. At the same time, it is also vitally important that we protect …

Collaborating at scale for nature and people

Nature Returns site on Exmoor. Credit: Mike Morecroft

In this post, Mike Morecroft, Deputy Director for Climate Change Science at Natural England, reflects on the Resilient Landscapes and Seas partnership symposium held recently in Edinburgh, where conservationists, scientists and land managers from across the UK and beyond came …

Guest blog: Using Biodiversity Net Gain to Support Dynamic Habitats

How do you create dynamic habitat systems, that are allowed to shift, grow, and reshape themselves naturally, within the rules of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)? BNG requires that developers leave nature in a measurably better state either on site and …

Defining Success for Wildlife: What Does "Thriving" Really Mean?

Pine Marten. Credit: Robert Cruikshanks

How do we know when a species is truly thriving, rather than just surviving? This is the question Natural England has been working to answer. We've now published new definitions that set out exactly what success looks like for four …

The Bat Advice Service (BAS) – Reforming Natural England’s advice for householders 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Development, Licensing, Natural England, Nature, Protected sites and species

By Matt Heard, National Delivery Director In this blog we explain how we are reforming the Bat Advice Service, the free support available to householders and places of worship who have bat roosts in their buildings. We cover what the current …

ReSCUE takes flight: Survey campaign to address gaps in seabird flight height data.

Wind turbines in the North Sea. Credit: Andrew Harwood

By Rachel Mewes – Marine Ornithology Specialist and ReSCUE Project Support, Eddie Cole – ReSCUE Project Lead and Andrew Harwood – Senior Marine Ornithology Specialist and ReSCUE Technical Lead Offshore wind expansion is critical to the UK government’s ambitions to …