Conservation

This Week in Biodiversity News – 15th May 2023

Research

15-million-year-old giant wombat skeletons have been uncovered in Australia. A new paper analysed the various features of these fossil bones to reveal the overall size and shape of the animal, its lifestyle and surrounding environment, as well as what kind of movements the animal was capable of. The research showed that this species, known as Nimbadon, spent some of its time suspended from tree branches like a sloth, grew in periodic spurts and had opposable thumbs. They are currently studying the enamel microstructure of Nimbadon’s teeth to determine its diet.

A program to plant 20 million trees in Australia prioritised cost-saving over gains for the environment, according to new research. Beginning in 2014, the program was aiming to improve native vegetation, support a richness of plant and animal species and reduce greenhouse gases. However, funding decisions were largely driven by ‘value for money’ considerations, with projects where the cost per tree was less than A$5 far more likely to be funded than projects where a tree cost more than A$10, undermining the benefits for both threatened species and the climate.

Extinction risk

A lack of large prey in Nepal may be the reason behind the rise in human-tiger conflicts. The wild tiger population has nearly tripled in the past 12 years but this has led to an increase in conflicts, with tigers in Bardiya National Park frequently preying on livestock in nearby settlements. Tigers in Parsa National Park, however, have access to large prey such as wild water buffalo and guar wild cattle, and researchers found no traces of livestock in their diet.

Trapping is holding back the speed of bird recovery in the Harapan Forest, Sumatra, Indonesia. A new study has found that the decade of protection and natural regeneration has helped bird populations increase in this forest, but wild trapping is preventing the full results of reforestation efforts. 45.1% of 122 bird species showed a notable population increase from 2009 to 2018, but 16.2% faced intensified trapping pressure.

Climate change

For the first time, wind is now the main source of UK electricity. In the first three months of 2023, wind turbines generated more electricity than gas, with a third of the country’s electricity coming from wind farms. There was also a record period for solar energy generation. While there is still a long way to go, this is a step in the right direction to meet the UK’s aim for all its electricity to have net zero emissions.

Frogs in Puerto Rico are croaking at a higher pitch due to global heating. The coqui frog appears to be decreasing in size due to the warmer temperatures, which is causing their croaks to become more high-pitched. Researchers are warning that if the trends continue, the temperature could become too high for certain amphibians to survive.

A new report claims that the UK could unlock £70bn a year in renewable energy. Generating more green electricity to meet the UK’s climate targets could create an additional 279,000 jobs, supporting a total of 654,000 jobs. If Britain’s clean electricity generation increased 50% above its current projections for 2050, it could be capable of exporting £17bn of green electricity to Europe annually. This could attract trillions in global private investment, doubling the £35bn a year economic benefit forecasted for its current path. To do this, government policymakers must remove barriers hampering the UK’s green energy ambitions, such as making sure the UK has enough batteries to store its renewable electricity and retrofitting commercial buildings to improve the UK’s energy efficiency.

A Cornish farm is launching a project to triple the UK’s temperate rainforest. The Thousand Year Trust is being launched this year by a veteran who is now transforming his 120-hectare hill farm on Bodmin Moor into the largest rainforest restoration project in England and Wales. Working with local farmers, landowners and other charities to identify land suitable for this habitat, the charity has the ultimate aim of tripling Britain’s surviving rainforest to 1m acres over the next 30 years.

Seabird conservation is mostly working, according to a comprehensive new data set. Researchers compiled a data set of 851 seabird restoration events over the last 70 years, spanning 551 locations and targeting 138 seabird species. Forty-nine events used translocation, while 802 used social attraction, such as decoys, bird sound recordings and other devices aiming to lure birds to a new place. While the result of each project depended largely on the species and circumstances, most were successfully completed.

Policy

An unprecedented €2.2bn drought response plan has been approved in Spain. The package of measures includes €1.4bn in funds to tackle the drought and increase water availability, and €784m to help farmers maintain production and avoid food shortages. The €1.4bn will be spent on building new infrastructure, such as desalination plants, doubling the proportion of water that is reused in urban areas from 10% to 20% by 2027, and subsidising those whose irrigation water supplies would be reduced.

Experts are calling for a ban on importing foreign soil to the UK, to help save British wildlife. Imported plants, soils and compost can be a vector for invasive, non-native species, including insects, microorganisms and seeds, which could outcompete native species. 356,000 tonnes of plants and soils were imported during 2021, creating a significant threat to our ecosystems.

Author interview with Isabella Tree: The Book of Wilding

In the hotly anticipated The Book of Wilding, Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell share some of the many lessons they have learned from their pioneering rewilding project at the Knepp Estate in Sussex. Explaining in detail why rewilding is important and how we can all play a part, this inspiring book is packed with practical solutions for rewilding on a range of scales, from farms and estates to allotments and gardens.

Charlie and Isabella. Image by Anthony Cullen.

In our recent conversation with Isabella, she talks about some of the things she has learned through her years managing Knepp alongside husband and co-author Charlie Burrell. We also discuss ways of coping with eco-anxiety and how we can all make a difference to the future of the planet, even if we aren’t large landowners or farmers.

The story of Knepp Estate and its transformation from a struggling farm to a prosperous and famous rewilding project is incredibly inspiring. Looking back over your journey and knowing all the things that you know now, what would you say to the younger you who was just beginning on this path?

I would tell her that this is going to be the most exciting adventure of her life and rewards will come in spades. And not to worry about the occasional Exocet missile from disgruntled neighbours or a Twitter storm. The results will speak for themselves. It may feel like you’re swimming against the current, but soon the tide will turn. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people out there in the UK who will soon be inspired to make the leap into rewilding too.

In relation to the first question, with the benefit of hindsight, are there things that you would have done differently, or were the challenges and potential mistakes a necessary part of the process?

The wonderful thing about rewilding is that there isn’t a detailed management plan, no specific goals or targets. Initially, you may need to put in some drivers (such as free-roaming grazing animals and restoring dynamic natural water systems) to kick-start natural processes again – especially if your land, like ours, has been ploughed and soaked in chemicals for decades. But then you’re stepping back and letting nature take over. That’s a huge relief in terms of lifting the burden of responsibility from your shoulders. Nature itself takes over the driving seat. So, in a way, there are no mistakes. It’s all about nature revealing itself, evolving in the way it wants to, anew. Often these outcomes are completely unpredictable.

The only management we do at Knepp is controlling the number of animals – neither too few, or too many – so their influence maximises the potential for diversity and abundance of life. And that is simply by observation. So, if we go too far in one direction, we simply – at some point – change the strategy. But we try never to respond with knee-jerk reactions. It’s a totally new way of thinking, very liberating.

The Book of Wilding, while being a hugely practical guide to rewilding on all scales, is also a beacon of hope. In an age when eco-anxiety can lead even the most optimistic and determined of us to feel despondent, do you feel broadly hopeful that humans can do the necessary work to restore balance to our planet?

Yes, we absolutely can. If we work together, and realise our potential to bring about huge, transformative change. But you’re right to identify how the enormity of the environmental crisis we’re facing can make most of us feel despondent and impotent. The only cure for eco-anxiety, that I’ve been able to find, is to actually do something positive oneself. Even if it’s just establishing a window box and filling it with plants for pollinating insects – that small gesture can be hugely galvanising. It is part of a much bigger picture, contributing to restoring the web of nature – our life-support system – across the planet. Seeing butterflies and bees and night-flying moths arriving, on flowers that you’ve planted yourself, is balm for the soul. It gives you the kind of encouragement that allows you to lift your head above the parapet and think ‘what else can I do?’

The case you make for rewilding, both through the book and your decades of work at Knepp, are extremely compelling. What do you think are the main barriers to a more widespread adoption of this approach? Do you think that cultural and traditional values are more of an issue than the practical concerns of funding and knowledge transfer/availability?

Yes, in a way, I do. We’re seeing new streams of funding for rewilding and nature restoration all the time. Governments are at last making the move to pay for ecosystem services – improvements to the land that bring benefits to the public like clean water, clean air, soil restoration, healthy food, carbon storage, and flood protection, as well as wild spaces for human health and wellbeing. And the private sector (businesses concerned about their image, and now legally required to account for their carbon footprint and environmental impact) is beginning to make colossal investments in nature restoration – this is likely to be the most positive influence of all. So, the financial incentives are happening. But a major drag on action is down to public perception, and aesthetics.

We’ve grown up to believe the countryside should look a certain way, that rivers should be canalised, hedges clipped within an inch of their life, gardens should be tidy, lawns manicured. Insects are pests. Barren, overgrazed hillsides are natural. Apex predators are dangerous. Often, the biggest obstacle of all is changing our own mindset, questioning received wisdom, really asking ourselves ‘can I consider this landscape to be beautiful if I know it’s not functioning, if it’s actually harmful to wildlife and to ourselves?’ Ultimately, it’s about letting go of cultural values we may have accepted unquestioningly, understanding what makes an ecosystem function, to stop being a control-freak, allow ourselves to get messy, to let go – to rewild ourselves.

Do you think that there are some misconceptions as to what constitutes rewilding? Particularly on a smaller scale where a more hands-on approach might be required to mimic the natural processes of herbivores, for instance – to the untrained eye this might seem more like conventional conservation management than rewilding.

Yes, indeed, small-scale rewilding (where there isn’t the space to use free-roaming animals, and there may not be dynamic natural water systems) has a lot in common with conventional conservation, and often the managers of ancient woodland or nature reserves may not be aware that they’re also acting like rewilders, being proxies, themselves, and mimicking the disturbance of wild herbivores – by doing things such as coppicing and pollarding, or putting woody debris blockages into rivers and streams (like a beaver) to create different flows and depths of water.

Where I think the rewilding approach brings something different, and more dynamic, is in varying the timing of interventions – so you might randomise when you cut a wildflower meadow, for example, and the intensity of cutting, so as to mimic the different factors that might affect herbivore grazing pressure in the wild. This will favour different suites of plants, maximising plant and insect diversity. Or try the passive-active-passive approach – doing nothing for a while, then going in with interventions, then leaving the area alone again for maybe several years. Basically, mixing it up, rather than applying steady, even, predictable management. Get rid of the level playing field!

I liked that you included a chapter on rewilding gardens, as this feels like an achievable project that any open-minded gardener could attempt. If done well, rewilding a small garden will have obvious benefits for the local plants and animals but, if done collectively, do you think it can also have a wider impact?

That’s one of the big themes of rewilding – connectivity. A friend of mine has created wonderful habitat in his back garden for insects, frogs, toads and grass snakes. But he’s also persuaded his neighbours to either replace their fences with hedges (great for nesting birds, especially if using thorny species such as blackthorn and hawthorn) or cut holes in the fence for hedgehogs. They’ve discussed the different habitats they can collectively provide for nature. One garden has a beetle bank and a pile of dead wood for stag beetles, another has a pond; some mow their lawns monthly, others only at the end of the summer; some have put up window boxes or planted ivy to climb their walls; others leave a pile of leaves or nettles and brambles in a discreet corner. Between them, they’ve created a whole string of different habitats that are connected, so they’ve become a wildlife corridor that also provides for species that have different demands at different stages in their life cycle. The next step is to connect with a nearby park by persuading the council to manage the roadside verges like wildflower meadows, and by planting an avenue of trees in the street. Their gardens already back onto a railway embankment, so ultimately they could be instrumental in creating a flow of life between open countryside and inner city.

Finally – what steps would you recommend to the ‘average’ citizen who isn’t a large landowner or farmer and wants to go beyond simply rewilding their own small garden?

There are lots of groups and NGOs working for nature restoration in imaginative and exciting ways and many of them welcome volunteers, such as the Vincent Wildlife Trust which focuses on recovery programmes for bats and mustelids. Citizen Zoo is a community-focused rewilding organisation involved in reintroduction programmes such as water voles, beavers and large marsh grasshoppers. Derek Gow Consultancy runs courses on practical rewilding in Devon (rewildingcoombeshead.co.uk) as do we, at Knepp in West Sussex (www.knepp.co.uk). Caring for God’s Acre is a conservation charity which advises on restoring nature in graveyards and cemeteries. Become a member of your local Wildlife Trust (London has one, too). You could petition your local council to stop mowing verges, leave thorny scrub in unmanaged areas, rewild urban parks, plant more street trees and encourage green walls and roofs. And, perhaps most important of all, campaign to make your village, town or city pesticide-free.

The Book of Wilding by Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell is published by Bloomsbury. Hardback RRP £35.00.

This Week in Biodiversity News – 1st May 2023

Research

An abundance of urban honeybees adversely impacts wild bee populations. By comparing bee population data collected from sites around the island of Montreal in 2013 to data collected at the same sites in 2020, a new study argues that the rapid growth in urban honeybee-keeping in recent years may be negatively impacting nearby wild bee populations. The researchers believe that small bees with limited foraging ranges may be particularly at risk. As honeybees are not native to the region, they are in competition with the almost 180 other species for resources.

New research has found that Juan Fernandez fur seals can tolerate high levels of metallic pollutants such as cadmium without suffering any ill effects. Scientists believe this ability could aid medical research, with researchers finding high levels of silicon in their bones which may be offsetting the impacts of this cadmium.

Extinction risk

The habitat for Asian elephants has shrunk by almost two-thirds. Around 3.3 million sq km of habitat has been lost since 1700, according to a new study. China has lost 94% of its suitable elephant habitat, while India has lost 86% and Bangladesh 72%. Thailand, Vietnam and the Indonesian island of Sumatra have lost half of their suitable habitat. The study noted a trend of converting landscapes to more heavily human-dominated spaces but did not look into specific reasons for the habitat loss in each country.

Asian elephants by Mike Prince via Flickr

The red list, published in the Journal of Bryology, has revealed Britain’s extinction-threatened mosses and liverworts. The study found that 19% of bryophyte species are at risk, with at least four having already become extinct in Great Britain. After assessing all 1,097 species (1,019 with sufficient information available), 191 are threatened with extinction, 59 critically endangered, 52 endangered and 80 vulnerable. Of these, 73% are mosses and 27% are liverworts.

Climate change

A report has found that the UK is failing to honour its net zero farming pledges. The projected emissions drop for agriculture and land use are 58% below the target of the original net zero plan. This gap is comparable to the emissions of the entire UK building sector. Additionally, the total projected emissions benefits from tree planting, from now until 2037, are 85% lower than previously claimed, with the planting rates currently half of what are needed to be in line with net zero.

Spain is bracing for a record April temperature of 39°C. The government has warned people to take precautions as they face droughts and temperatures 7-11°C above average for this time of year. The country has been in drought since January last year. Last year, Spain experienced a series of heat waves, which were accompanied by forest fires that burned hundreds of thousands of hectares.

Wildlife crime

The illegal killings of birds of prey has led the Peak District national park to end an agreement between grouse moor managers and bird conservationists. The partnership, which was set up in 2011, sought to restore bird of prey populations across the park. Due to the continued illegal persecution targeting some of these species, the park is now looking for alternative ways to ensure birds of prey have a future in the area.

Policy

The Welsh Government has announced £11m for conservation projects that help Wales’ endangered wildlife. Nine new large and 17 medium projects will benefit from the last round of this Nature Networks funding package, helping to strengthen the resilience of Wales’ seas, forests and grasslands. One species to benefit is the Atlantic wild salmon, which experts say could disappear from Welsh rivers within the next two decades.

Brazil’s government has recognised six Indigenous lands. Out of 733 Indigenous territories, 496 are now recognised by the state, with the remaining 237 in different stages of the demarcation procedure. The current government is aiming to demarcate the highest number of Indigenous lands possible, not only because it is their right, but also to reach zero deforestation by 2030. Between 1990 and 2020, only 1% of native vegetation area was lost in lands demarcated or waiting demarcation. In comparision, private areas lost 20.6%.

New discoveries

Grey-headed lapwing by Sai Adikarla via Flickr

A grey-headed lapwing has been spotted in Northumberland, UK. The species, which is normally found in India, China and Japan was spotted in England this week. It is thought to be the first sighting of the wader in the UK, with only five recorded sightings of the bird in Europe and western Asia in recent years.

Biodiversity Net Gain: Credit Creation and Metric 4.0

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is the new scheme by the UK Government to improve the health of our environment, set to become mandatory in England in November 2023. For more information about this scheme, please read our first blog on BNG. This new scheme represents an important opportunity for landowners as a diversification option. Those that are interested in getting involved in this scheme should assess their lands’ economic productivity to determine whether they have any low-productivity land that could be used for habitat creation.

Credit creation

Credits are areas of land (usually a minimum of 10 hectares) with a biodiversity net gain plan in place that have been registered through the regulator. Developers can purchase these credits to offset any biodiversity loss that cannot be mitigated for on-site. Creating credits for BNG can allow landowners to generate reliable and environmentally friendly income from otherwise unproductive or low-productivity land. To do this, the landowner needs to:

Have the area assessed using a preliminary ecological appraisal following Defra’s biodiversity metric. This will determine what the biodiversity value of the land is.
Have ecologists produce a net gain plan, based on 30 years of uplift.
Have a specialist lawyer draft a 30-year legal agreement including the net gain plan.

These units must be registered with a certificate through the regulator. There are fees involved in this registration, including the legal fees of the regulator when certifying the credits. Once these credits are certified, the landowner can sell them on the open market. A developer will pay a fee to purchase credits and this sum will usually include the lease of the land for 30 years, as well as management services, estimated by some to be around £800-900 pounds per hectare per year. This could be paid either as a one-off payment or in regular instalments over the 30-year period, depending on the agreement.

The onus is then on the landowner to deliver the net gain plan.

Positives

Not only will this be good PR for landowners, these units, which would otherwise be poor-yielding or non-yielding, will now be able to provide the landowner with a reliable income. Given the continued disruption from inflation, climate change, bird flu, Brexit, the Ukraine conflict and so on, a consistent income may help to relieve some of the pressures from these uncertainties. Diversifying the portfolio of the landowner/business, such as a farm, can improve the resilience of the business.

This scheme will help to create increased biodiversity, which can lead to benefits for productivity improvements on farms such as increased soil health, pollination and resistance to pests and disease.

Increasing areas set aside for biodiversity and habitats will improve the overall health of our environment, helping to fight the impacts of climate change. This, again, can help to improve farm yields and resilience.

Drawbacks

The use of the land will be locked in for 30 years, as it will be secured by conservation covenants, and must be managed in relation to the net gain plan. As climate change continues to impact England, this may involve more and more work for the landowner, above and beyond the initial lump sum fee. This may also mean the loss of a more financially beneficial opportunity in the future.

Additionally, due to the general movement towards protecting the environment, any land used for BNG may then become an important habitat, therefore the land may not be able to be used for anything else in the future, even when the covenant expires. While this is a positive for the environment, as it would provide long term protection for important habitats, landowners should consider how this may impact future business opportunities.

Changing the land from agricultural production could also have tax implications, as Agricultural Relief means some agricultural property is free from inheritance tax.

There is also little clear guidance on how BNG products will be accredited and monitored, therefore professional advice should be sought before entering into any agreements with developers.

Metric 4.0

The government recently published version 4.0 of the Biodiversity Net Gain Metric, which will most likely be the version used from November this year when the scheme becomes mandatory. The metric used for small sites has also been updated to align with this new version. The Biodiversity Metric 4.0 can be found on the Natural England website, and includes user guides, calculation tools, the small sites metric, condition assessment sheets and associated guidance documents.

What has changed?

After feedback from the consultation in autumn 2022, the guidance was streamlined and made more user-friendly, with habitat names changed to align with relevant habitat classifications, such as UKHab, and amendments made to the calculation tool and to the formula of the spatial risk multiplier, which will allow developers to consider how and where BNG can be secured and delivered while also assessing the likely number of units that would be required.

Chalk stream, a globally rare habitat, by Peter O’Connor via Flickr

Additionally, ‘bespoke compensation’ will now be required if any watercourse habitats that are classified as having ‘very high distinctiveness’ cannot be retained or enhanced. This type of compensation is required for all ‘very high distinctiveness’ habitats considered ‘irreplaceable’, such as peat bogs, to prevent the replacement of these high-value habitats with low-value habitats. Bespoke compensation includes habitat creation, enhancement or restoration, possibly on a large scale in recognition of the irreplaceability of the habitat lost or damaged. This bespoke design is needed as compensation for irreplaceable habitats cannot be determined by metrics and must be custom-made based on the specifics of the habitat lost or damaged.

What happens now?

Natural England will continue to work with a number of parties concerning any future changes and improvements to the metic, with major updates occurring every 3-5 years.

Summary

Creating credits can generate reliable income from non-yielding land. Landowners need to assess areas using a preliminary ecological appraisal, have ecologists produce a net gain plan and have a specialist lawyer draft a legal agreement.
These areas can be sold on the open market and could generate either a one-off payment or regular instalments over the 30-year period.
This would diversify to the landowners’ portfolio and potentially improve business resilience. However, the land would be locked for 30 years, the work involved may go above and beyond the initial income and changing the land use could have tax implications.
Version 4.0 of the Biodiversity Net Gain Metric has been published, with several changes including streamlining to make the guidance more user-friendly, changing habitat names to align with relevant habit classifications such as UKHab, and amendments to the calculation tool.
From now, Natural England will continue to work on the metric, with major updates occurring every 3-5 years.

Book Review: Cry of the Wild: Eight Animals Under Siege

Cry of the Wild: Eight Animals Under Siege is a unique take on nature writing, blurring the lines between non-fiction and fiction and harking back to Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter and Richard Adams’ Watership Down. Written by the author of several loved books such as The Screaming Sky and Being a Beast, it is an original and creative book that aims to change our perspective on how the way we live is impacting animals. The book is split into eight chapters (plus an epilogue), each following a species ‘under siege’, beginning with foxes and ending with eels. The chapters follow the stories of anthropomorphised individuals as they try to navigate life impacted by the human world.

The Living Planet Report, published in October 2022, highlighted the impacts of the interlinked threats of human-induced climate change and biodiversity loss. Using datasets from almost 32,000 populations of 5,230 species across the planet, this comprehensive report shows that populations have declined by an average of 69% between 1970 and 2018, with land-use change being the most significant driver of biodiversity loss. Human activity is having a profound impact on the environment and ecosystems, and Charles Foster shows us this impact through the perspective of the animal, from an orca whose pod tries to survive in a polluted, overfished ocean to a gannet struggling to breed.

The third chapter is on humans, with the narrative following a child as they try to navigate and come to terms with a world that is being degraded by human activity. Foster is clear in the introduction that he views humans as also under siege, that we are part of the animal kingdom and therefore also suffering due to the declining health of our planet. Foster wrote Cry of the Wild as a way of introducing fresh storytelling to combat the fatigue many of us are experiencing when faced with the barrage of news about climate change and environmental destruction, which often leaves us numb and in denial. This chapter is a heartfelt representation of the struggles we face when trying to remain engaged with what is happening to our natural world.

Mayfly by Johan J.Ingles-Le Nobel via Flickr

Many of the species covered in the book are freshwater species or those that rely heavily on freshwater habitats, such as otters, mayflies and eels. Our freshwater environments, especially those in the UK, are heavily degraded, facing a wide range of constant threats such as pollution from sewage discharges and agricultural runoff to canalisation and invasive species. The mayfly is a particularly interesting species to pick, as insects are often overlooked in favour of more charismatic species when trying to encourage more people to act and empathise with conservation projects. However, there are 51 species of mayfly known in the British Isles, and they play a vital role in the freshwater ecosystem, providing a food source for many species such as trout, salmon, woodpeckers and dippers. Their larvae are opportunistic feeders, consuming detritus, plant matter and other insects. They are also used as an indicator species, as they are impacted by poor water quality. Chapter four highlights the fragility of their declining populations, showing how one single landowner practising poor management along a river system could devastate that ecosystem.

Throughout the book, humans are portrayed as villains and saviours, invaders and carers, showing the complicated and multifaceted ways we interact with nature. Cry of the Wild is a distinctive and engaging book that explores the impacts of our society on the environment in a novel, accessible way. By inviting us to experience the consciousness of his eight protagonists, Foster creates a poignant warning about how we treat animals and their habitats.

Cry of the Wild: Eight Animals Under Siege
By: Charles Foster
Hardback | May 2023

This Week in Biodiversity News – 17th April 2023

Conservation

Artificial nests raise hopes that golden eagles will be able to breed in southern Scotland. Two eyries were placed high in trees on a private estate near where three young eagles have been spotted. More than 17 privately owned estates support the South of Scotland Golden Eagle project and a series of translocations have increased the area’s population from a few pairs to 38. This is the highest number recorded for three centuries.

Golden Eagle by Richard Bartz via Wikimedia Commons

Extinction risk

Hong Kong Bird Watching Society has reported an alarming decline in the black-faced spoonbill population. The local population has fallen below 300 for the first time in eight years, despite global numbers reaching a record high at 6,603. The society director Yu Yat-tung stated that more time is needed to find out why the population has dwindled.

New data shows that 48% of UK bird species declined between 2015 and 2020. Woodland birds were shown to be faring the worst, with a 12% decline. The Environment Act passed into law in 2021, requiring a halt in species decline by 2030 but campaigners believe radical changes to government policy are needed if this target is going to be met.

The number of critically endangered fish species in Australia has doubled. Nine new species are now thought to be on the brink of extinction with calls for urgent action to control invasive freshwater species. Invasive trout have caused the ranges of many of these fish to be reduced to extremely small areas, with many only having one population left.

Climate change

The UK’s insulation scheme would take 300 years to meet government targets to reduce fuel poverty, according to critics. The Great British Insulation Scheme aims to insulate 300,000 homes a year over the next three years but does not go far enough to reach the 19 million homes that need better insulation. Home insulation grants are thought to be a crucial part of the government’s plan to have a net-zero economy by 2050.

Global ocean surface temperatures are at the highest since records began. The average temperature is at around 21.1C since the start of April, with the previous highest being 21C in 2016. This rise in temperature will likely lead to more extreme weather and marine storms, as well as polar ice caps melting and coral bleaching.

Coral bleaching in Hawaii by Caitlin Seaview Survey via Wikimedia Commons

Wildlife crime

Roughly 1,000 pounds of illegally caught shark was seized in Texas. A recent study shows that humans are to blame for the 70% decline in sharks and rays, and that overfishing must be stopped or they could go extinct. Texas banned the trade of shark fins in 2015 but the state has long been a hot spot for shark fishing and trade.

Policy

The slowing of deforestation following a Brazilian forest policy review was less effective on private lands than in all conservation areas, according to a new study. The last policy review in 2012 prevented the restoration of 14.6 million hectares of agricultural land, which had a carbon sequestration potential of 2.4 gigatonnes.

Conservation Land Management: Spring 2023

The Spring 2023 issue of Conservation Land Management (CLM) is now out, the first of volume 21, which marks CLM’s 20th year in existence. This issue features an exciting addition to CLM, a brand new Habitat Management for Invertebrates series, beginning with two articles. The remaining articles in this issue cover a range of subjects, including ghost pond restoration and the removal of weirs and dams to improve river habitats – read a summary of the articles below.

The new Habitat Management for Invertebrates series aims to encourage those who are involved in making management decisions on a site to consider invertebrates. In the series’ first article, Roger Morris, Keith Alexander and Robert Wolton highlight the key factors that site managers need to think about when incorporating invertebrates into management plans, discussing the types of data that are most useful and how to interpret these data.

The next article in the series goes on to focus specifically on the management of Aspen forests in the Scottish Highlands. There are around 15 rare or notable species of fly that are associated with the decaying cambium layer under the bark of dead Aspen, the Aspen Hoverfly Hammerschmidtia ferruginea being one of these. The Aspen Hoverfly is considered a flagship species – the correct management for the Aspen Hoverfly benefits several other key species. The priority in management is to make sure that there is a fresh supply of dead wood, and Iain MacGowan describes how this achieved in a way that provides optimal conditions for Aspen Hoverfly larvae, by either moving snapped branches with a diameter over 25cm closer to ground or by bringing in dead wood from adjacent sites. Look out for more articles in the Habitat Management for Invertebrates series in future issues of CLM.

Aspen in the Scottish Highlands. Iain MacGowan/NMS

Only 1% of the rivers in England, Wales and Scotland are free from artificial barriers, which pose a major threat to river wildlife. They lead to habitat fragmentation, interrupt the flow of sediment and obstruct the movement of fish and other organisms. Although some of these barriers have their uses, such as for hydropower, drinking water and irrigation, many are now obsolete. Tim Jacklin outlines the benefits to river habitats of removing these barriers and illustrates possible approaches by describing several different weir removal projects in the UK.

Before and after the removal of a weir in the Dovedale valley. Tim Jacklin

With the move to more intensive farming during the last century, many farmland ponds, which were once dotted across much of the British countryside, were filled in. But not all is lost. These former ponds, known as ‘ghost ponds’, can be resurrected; the seeds of wetland plants and stonewort oospores are still viable and, once a pond is restored, wetland plant communities are quick to recolonise. Carl Sayer et al. describe how to locate ghost ponds, the methods used for excavation, and the management of ponds post restoration.

Soils play a key role in a number of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, water management and nutrient cycling, and although they were once largely ignored, there is an emerging understanding of the importance of improving the health of soil, particularly in an agricultural context. With a focus on soils on farms, Becky Willson, from the Farm Carbon Toolkit, discusses what soil health is and why it is important, and the key characteristics of good-quality soil.

In this and every issue you can expect to see Briefing, keeping you up to date with the latest training courses, events and publications, and On the ground which provides helpful tips or updates on products relevant to land management. Other features, such as Review, which can include letters from readers or updates from our authors, also regularly appear in CLM.

CLM is published four times a year, in March, June, September and December, and is available by subscription only, delivered straight to your door. Subscriptions start from £22 per year. If you would like to read any of these articles, back issues are also available to purchase individually (subject to availability).

If you are involved in a conservation project and think your experiences could be useful to other practitioners, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in writing for CLM – we will be happy to discuss your ideas with you.

This Week in Biodiversity News – 5th April 2023

Conservation

Ospreys are being reintroduced to Ireland, more than 200 years after they were declared extinct. The species has not bred in Ireland since the 1700s but, after years of lobbying, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has agreed to reintroduce Osprey this year. A report from last year showed that 25% of Irish birds are in severe decline, with 37% more showing moderate decline. There are now calls to reintroduce more birds that are now extinct in Ireland.

A family of beavers has been released on an estate in Staffordshire to help boost biodiversity. The individuals have been placed in one of the largest enclosures in the UK on the 725-acre estate. Beavers were hunted to extinction in England, and it is thought that this is the first time the species has swum in Staffordshire for more than 400 years.

Extinction risk

People are being warned to leave capercailies alone, as this endangered bird stops breeding when disturbed. This species, whose Scottish population consists of only 542 individuals, is on the brink of extinction. It is a criminal offence to disturb capercallie while they are lekking (where males gather to display and fight for the attention of females), nesting or raising young. A birdwatcher was even arrested and charged last year for disturbing them.

Climate change

The hot, dry summer of 2022 has had a major impact on some UK butterfly species. The new study was conducted by Butterfly Conservation, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, British Trust for Ornithology and Joint Nature Conservation Committee. It showed that species such as the green-veined white, small white, small tortoiseshell, peacock and brimstone experienced greatly reduced numbers following the widespread drought. This is thought to be due to insufficient food for the caterpillars as food plants withered and died in the drought conditions.

The net zero strategy shows that the UK will miss its 2030 emissions cuts targets. According to the government, its policies will only achieve 92% of cuts required, but experts think that is a ‘very generous reading’. The UK has a legally binding requirement to reach net zero emissions by 2050, and it commited under the Paris agreement to cut emissions by 68% by 2030 (compared with 1990 levels). The new strategy is a mix of wins and losses: it requires car manufacturers to ensure 22% of their car sales and 10% of van sales must be of electric vehicles by 2024, but does not lift the ban on onshore windfarms and contains little reference to agriculture.

Policy

A new multi-million pound grant scheme has been launched by Natural England to help rare and threatened species, such as water voles, curlews and natterjack toads. The Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme will provide projects with £18 million over two years, delivering targeted conservation action through the creation and improvement of specific wildlife habitats, conservation translocation, research and creating solutions to address species decline.

New discoveries

Scientists have found the deepest fish ever recorded at 8,300 metres in the Izu-Ogasawara trench near Japan. A team made up of researchers from Western Australia and Tokyo captured footage of the animal, an unknown snailfish species belonging to the genus Pseudoliparis. Two other snailfish, Pseudoliparis belyaevi, were also filmed at a depth of 8,022m. At this depth, the pressure is 800 times greater than at the surface; snailfish are adapted to live at these high pressures by not having swim bladders and they have a gelatinous layer instead of scales.

A newly described leafless orchid in Sri Lanka has been named. The species was found in a lowland wet zone forest and has been named Gastrodia pushparaga, after a precious yellow sapphire commonly extracted from the same district. This is the third Gestrodia species found in Sri Lanka, the other two being discovered in 1906 and 2020.

The High Seas Treaty – What is it and Will it Be Effective?

The High Seas Treaty is a new agreement signed by the UN which aims to put 30% of international waters into marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2030. International waters are two-thirds of the world’s ocean, established under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, where all countries have a right to fish, ship and conduct research. Currently, only 1.2% of these areas are protected, leaving the rest open to exploitation from a wide variety of threats.

What are the current threats to the world’s oceans?

There are a number of key threats to the health of our oceans. A recent assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that nearly 10% of marine species are at risk of extinction. Overfishing and pollution are the two biggest threats, according to the Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research. The number of overfished stocks has tripled globally in the last 50 years and, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, one-third of the world’s assessed fisheries are being pushed beyond biological limits. Illegal fishing, under-researched, unbacked or unregulated fishing quotas, and bycatch all combine to create a major threat to global marine ecosystems.

Around 4 million fishing vessels are currently in operation around the globe. Poor government management and control of fisheries and trade, along with subsidies provided by many governments to offset business costs and a criminal fishing network worth around $36.4 billion annually, are all serving to drive overfishing. This leads to degraded ecosystems, changes in biotic factors such as abundance, average fish size, reproduction strategies and speed of maturation, leading to imbalances between predator and prey dynamics that can erode food webs.

Commercial fishing boat. Image by Gary Leavens via Flickr

While plastic pollution is often the most discussed type of marine pollution, there are actually a broad number of sources, including chemicals and excess nutrients from agricultural runoff, industrial wastewater and sewage, oil spills, ocean acidification and other non-biodegradable waste. They can be broadly grouped into two categories: chemicals and trash. Chemical pollution creates negative effects on the marine environment by changing the chemical state of the ocean, artificially increasing nutrient levels which can lead to toxic algal blooms and impacting the physiology of marine life by reducing their capacity to reproduce, reducing offspring fitness, impacting growth or increasing their vulnerability to parasites and diseases. Marine trash can cause entanglement or be consumed, which can impact the health of marine life and even become fatal.

Other threats include those from shipping traffic, such as noise and collisions, climate change, deep-sea drilling or mining, weapons testing and sonar. Climate change impacts the oceans in a variety of complex ways, from sea level rises changing the abiotic factors of many habitats, temperature rises causing marine heat waves, more frequent and intense storms, and changes in oxygen and carbon dioxide levels leading to anoxic water and ocean acidification. Shipping noise, mining, weapons testing and sonar produce high levels of sound waves in the ocean, disrupting marine communication and impacting the behaviour of species such as whales, causing them to travel miles away and even beaching themselves to avoid the disturbance. All these stressors impact marine life, leading to mass mortality events and threatening ecosystems.

Whale strandings can occur due to a variety of causes, one being excessive noise pollution. Image of a mass pilot whale stranding by Oregon State University via Flickr.

What is the plan?

The talks, called the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, have now reached an agreement on the legal framework after almost 20 years. One of the main elements of this treaty is the aim to create international MPAs, restricting industrial fishing, deep-sea mining and other potentially destructive activities. Another part of the treaty looks to reassess environmental impact assessments, creating consistent ground rules that all nations will need to follow when calculating the potential damage of human activities in these areas. It would also open up the sharing of genetic resources from international waters, which has both scientific and commercial benefits.

Will this be effective?

More than 100 countries are part of this agreement. While the treaty has been agreed upon, it is not yet been ‘legally agreed’, meaning that the treaty must first be formally adopted and then be passed legally into all the countries that have signed up. Effective implementation is crucial, as if all countries do not abide by the new treaty, it will not have the full impacts that are desired. Talks have previously been held up due to a number of disagreements over fishing rights and funding.

For MPAs to be effective, they need to be properly regulated and enforced. This means that fishing quotas must be backed by thorough research, catch numbers need to be reported accurately and illegal fishing must be controlled. Many existing MPAs fail to protect marine biodiversity and keep fishing to sustainable levels, according to a report by the European court of auditors. A study even found that 59% of the MPAs in Europe were being trawled by commercial vessels more often than in areas without protection. Therefore, without proper and rigorous regulation, these areas will simply provide a false sense of security without any actual progress in conserving and restoring our marine biodiversity.

Over 80% of marine polution comes from land-based activities. Image by Ravi Khemka via Flickr.

Additionally, while creating MPAs that would regulate fishing, shipping routes and research such as deep-sea mining, it does not protect from the other threats to marine health. Over 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based activities, therefore these new MPAs will continue to be threatened by pollution. They will also still be threatened by the impacts of climate change, although intact ecosystems are much more resilient to these stressors than degraded ones. Therefore, if these new MPAs can repair biodiversity in these areas, some of the effects of these threats could be at least partially mitigated.

To aid the approval of the treaty and its early implementation, the EU pledged €40m (£35m). The continued success of this, however, requires continued funding. This is why countries will still be allowed to profit from marine genetic resources, as a proportion of this will need to be placed into a global fund. High-income countries may be asked to contribute more, and the fund will need to be regulated to make sure the correct contributions are being made and that funds are being used effectively and fairly.

Summary

This new UN treaty will place 30% of international waters into Marine Protected Areas by 2030, restricting fishing, mining and other destructive marine activities.
The marine ecosystem is under threat from a variety of sources, including pollution, overfishing and climate change.
The MPAs will need to be properly regulated. This treaty will not protect the areas from all threats but, if the ecosystems become more intact and stable, this will help to mitigate some of the impacts.
Funding will need to be continuous and used fairly and effectively for this treaty to be successfully implemented.

This Week in Biodiversity News – 20th March 2023

Conservation

An invasive snail is helping an endangered bird in Florida. The snail kite is bouncing back from the threat of extinction, due to the abundance of a new food source. Their original food source, a local apple snail, suffered severe declines due to droughts in the early 2000s. This new non-native island apple snail is five times bigger than the original species; continued monitoring of the snail kite has shown that their bills are getting bigger to accommodate this larger food source.

The Yangtze finless porpoise population has increased for the first time. The latest census conducted by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shows that the population has increased by over 23 percent in the past five years, from 1,012 to 1,249. This is seen as evidence that the conservation effort for the world’s only freshwater porpoise is effective.

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has purchased Great Wood, an ancient woodland in North Wiltshire. The 71 hectare site will be transformed into a nature reserve, a move that will protect the area from being sold off to multiple landowners or commercially managed. Only 3% of Wiltshire is ancient woodland, with only 8% covered by woodland.

Extinction risk

Humans are altering the diet of the Tasmanian devil. Human-modified landscapes may be narrowing the diet of this species and accelerating their decline, according to a new study. Devils living in human-impacted areas, such as cleared land, fed on mainly medium-sized mammals. However, in undisturbed habitats, their diet was broader, including smaller animals such as birds.

Tasmanian Devil by Steven Penton via Flickr

Climate change

There is a drought risk to multiple English regions after a dry February. England had its driest February for 30 years, with some rivers at their lowest on record. Scientists are warning that South West England and East Anglia are at risk of drought unless ‘unseasonably sustained rainfall’ occurs in the coming months.

Global fresh water demand will outstrip supply by 40% by 2030, according to experts. The new report calls for governments to stop subsidising the extraction and overuse of water, and for industries from mining to manufacturing to overhaul any wasteful practices. The report has set out seven key recommendations, including scaling up investment in water management and pricing water properly.

Scientists have delivered the ‘final warning’ on the climate crisis. The final part of the sixth assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set out on Monday. This comprehensive review of the knowledge of the climate crisis took eight years to compile and has one clear message: act now, or it will be too late. The report, called the synthesis report, will most likely be the last assessment while the world has a chance of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5°C.

Policy

Ecological emergency has been declared by councillors in South Tyneside, UK. This is part of efforts to boost the biodiversity in the borough, while also safeguarding the natural environment. This declaration has set out 11 pledges which will increase ‘eco-literacy’, develop ‘member champions’ for biodiversity and ensure that council strategic decisions and policies will consider and maximise nature recovery.