Creating new wood pasture: What we’ve learned from Nature Returns

Wood pasture illustration of veteran and other open grown trees, decay habitats, scrub and structurally diverse open areas grazed by large herbivores. Reproduced from the Creation of Wood Pasture Systems Toolkit (National Trust, 2023) with permission of the National Trust. Credit: National Trust/Richard Allen.

By Jessica Elias, Natural England Nature-based Solutions are increasingly recognised as an effective way to respond to climate change while restoring nature and improving people’s wellbeing. Through the Nature Returns programme, we’ve had the opportunity to see how one approach …

Grazing on Dartmoor – Setting the record straight on Natural England's role

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Grazing, Natural England, Nature, wildlife and farming
Natural England logo

This blog was updated on 16th June Recent media coverage has suggested that Natural England has recommended a cull of ponies on Dartmoor. This is categorically not true, nor is it true to suggest any scheme has been designed with …

Integrating clean power and the natural environment 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Development, Green Infrastructure, Growth, Natural England, Nature, Wildlife
Large solar panels in a green field, under a blue sunny sky with a few clouds.

By Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England In this blog, our Chair Tony Juniper reflects on a recent site visit to a solar farm in Essex where he saw first-hand how clean solar energy can be delivered alongside measures to support biodiversity and …

Supporting the return of white‑tailed eagles to Exmoor

White-tailed eagles hunting as a pair. Credit: Ainsley Bennett

By Roxanne Gardiner, Senior Officer, Natural England Wildlife Licensing Service and Olivia Beatty, Higher Officer, Wessex Area Team Natural England has issued a licence enabling the next phase of white-tailed eagle reintroductions in southern England, permitting the release of up …

Abbotts Hall: Where Natural England’s New Strategy Comes to Life on the Ground

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Coast and access, Landscape, Landscapes and access, Natural Capital, Wildlife
The coast at Abbotts Hall is a natural transition from scrubland to intertidal saltmarshes. Credit: Zoe Gillard

By Anna Oliveri, Senior Landscape Officer, Natural England   Abbotts Hall Farm on the Essex coast is quietly becoming one of England's most compelling examples of landscape-scale nature recovery in action. In this post, Senior Landscape Officer Anna Oliveri shares …

Reflections on the Nature Restoration Fund Business Readiness Forum  

In this blog we look back on the first Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) Business Readiness Forum, held to help developers, planners and environmental stakeholders understand how the new fund will work in practice. We explain how the NRF and Environmental …

Healthy Land, Secure Future: A Land Use Framework for Nature, Climate and Communities

Posted by: and , Posted on: - Categories: Development, Growth, Natural England, Nature, Nature Recovery, Planning
Landscape shot showing a path through two stone fences with green fields either side in the Yorkshire countryside. The sky is bright blue and sunny and a flock of birds are in flight.

By Hannah Wood, Strategy Deputy Director, and Fin Rylatt, Land Use Framework lead,  Natural England In this blog post, we explain how the new Land Use Framework sets out a path to clearer, more integrated ways of managing England’s land. The new Framework shows how nature, food production, clean energy and housing can complement each …

Growing trees and farming together for nature recovery – new agroforestry principles launched

Veteran cherry trees, Alfrick, Worcestershire. Credit: Geoff Newman

By Alisa Swanson, Natural England Agroforestry — the practice of combining trees with farming — is gaining renewed momentum as a practical way to increase tree cover and restore nature without sacrificing productive land. This post explores how Natural England …

Smarter Planning and Licensing Systems: Delivering Better Results for Bats and People

• A Daubenton's bat hunting an insect at night. Credit: Paul Colley via iStock/Getty Images

By Mike Smith – Deputy Director, Wildlife Licensing and Reform This blog outlines how Natural England is modernising the bat licensing system. It explores how we are building evidence to strengthen the planning system to deliver better outcomes for bat …

A Rare Fungi Discovery at Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve: The First UK Sighting of the Blue-Based Earthtongue

Yew tree at Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve

By Liz Frost, frequent visitor and fungi specialist, with Rachel Guy, Kingley Vale NNR Reserve Manager In mid-December 2025, amateur fungi enthusiast Liz Frost made an extraordinary discovery at Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve in West Sussex — spotting a …