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Appeal court finds in favour of anglers who said plans to clean up river were so vague as to be totally ineffectual
A group of anglers trying to restore the ecosystem of a river have seen off a challenge by the environment secretary, Steve Reed, who claimed that cleaning up the waterway was administratively unworkable.
Reed pursued an appeal against a group of anglers from North Yorkshire, who had won a legal case arguing that the government and the Environment Agency’s plans to clean up the Upper Costa Beck, a former trout stream devastated by sewage pollution and runoff, were so vague they were ineffectual.
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Ban in place since 2021 has increased numbers of globally vulnerable pigeon species that is close to extinction in UK
Turtle doves will be allowed to be shot for sport again across Europe, as the EU lifts a ban on hunting that was credited with the species’ tentative recovery.
The EU will allow hunters to shoot 132,000 birds across Spain, France and Italy after the threatened bird enjoyed a population boom in western Europe because of a hunting ban that came into effect in 2021.
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The hardy travellers can fly for 3,000 miles from the north-east US and Canada to roost in their millions in Mexico
Imagine your body was the weight of a raisin, supported by just a pair of flimsy, gossamer wings. Now imagine that you had to fly for 3,000 miles, avoiding storms, highways and predators, to ensure your species continued.
Could you do it? Unless you’re a monarch butterfly, fortunately you won’t have to face such a challenge.
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More than half of Britain’s 59 native species are in long-term decline, UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme finds
Last summer was the fifth worst in nearly half a century for butterflies in Britain, according to the biggest scientific survey of insect populations in the world.
For the first time since scientific recording began in 1976, more than half of Britain’s 59 native species are in long-term decline.
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Experts are desperate to analyse rusty patched bumblebee nests for information that might help save them. But they are extremely hard to find – unless you’re a trained conservation canine
- Words and photographs by Anne Readel in Somers, Wisconsin
On a summer day in Somers, Wisconsin, Dave Giordano heard an unexpected buzzing in his back yard. What he found shocked him – a rusty patched bumblebee nest. The discovery was so rare it made the local news.
Once widespread across the midwest and eastern US, the rusty patched bumblebee has seen its population plunge by nearly 90%, prompting its listing in 2017 as the first federally endangered bumblebee in the US.
Main image: Two rusty patched bumblebee gynes in the nest discovered by Dave Giordano in August 2023. Below: Jay Watson, a conservation biologist, observes a nest (marked with orange flags) found in a rodent burrow
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Government wants to spur economic growth and drive housebuilding but charities say nature should be priority
Wildlife groups have expressed alarm after ministers promised a radically “streamlined” approach to UK environmental regulation intended to drive economic growth and speed up new housing, as well as major projects such as airports.
While officials said the plans should boost nature conservation overall, the removal of what one called “bat by bat” decisions, a reference to the £100m bat shelter constructed for part of HS2, could water down individual protections.
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Species-rich plot can produce cooling effect 4C greater than single-species plot
Woodland with lots of different kinds of trees can do a good job of buffering heatwaves and extreme cold. Now a new study demonstrates that increasing the mix of species can help to mitigate climate extremes.
Florian Schnabel, from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research in Leipzig, and colleagues measured forest temperatures over a six-year period at the world’s largest tree diversity experiment in Xingangshan, in subtropical China. Their results, published in Ecology Letters, show that species-rich plots provided the greatest cooling effect during summer, with cooling more than 4C greater in an experimental plot with 24 species compared with a single-species plot. Diverse plots also maintained more warmth under the tree canopy on cold nights and during winter.
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Traditional methods benefit hundreds of species but as new agricultural techniques take over, the distinctive haystacks mark a vanishing way of life
Golden haystacks shaped like teardrops have been a symbol of rural life in Romania for hundreds of years. The 3-metre-high (10ft) ricks are the culmination of days of hard work by families, from children up to grandparents, in the height of summer.
Together they cut waist-high grass, leave it to dry in the hot sun and stack it up to be stored over the winter, combing the hay downwards to protect it from harsh winds, heavy rain and snow. Throughout winter, clumps of it are removed from the haystacks and fed to livestock.
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If Peter Dutton needs to court the crossbench to form minority government after the election, he would risk putting his Coalition partner offside on climate and environment policy
If the Coalition wins the election, it will face a concerted push from its junior partner, the Nationals, to weaken and even abandon climate initiatives and promote coal as an interim measure in the Coalition’s nuclear power plan.
That would put Peter Dutton and the Liberals between a rock and a hard place should he seek to form a minority government, given that might require the support of environmentally minded crossbenchers.
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Since February we’ve gone in search of the invertebrate of the year. Now it’s your chance to choose
Invertebrates – animals without spines – make up the vast majority of life on Earth. The Guardian’s invertebrate of the year contest celebrates the unsung heroes of the planet. Readers have nominated thousands of amazing animals, we’ve chosen a shortlist of 10, and now you can vote for your favourite.
1. The tongue-biting louse burrows in through a fish’s gills, clings to its tongue and eats what the fish eats.
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