Tag: Conservation

COP 26: The road to Glasgow… and beyond

In just a few weeks, the UK will host the UN’s 26th Climate Change Conference, COP 26, in Glasgow. In an editorial in the October issue of British Wildlife, David Stroud, former Senior Ornithologist at JNCC and co-author of International Treaties in Nature Conservation: A UK Perspective, describes the build-up to the conference and what we can expect from the event itself. The editorial is shared in full below.

Psychologists tell us that humanity evolved to focus on immediate threats – the sabre-toothed tiger lurking in a cave – rather than to ‘over the horizon’ challenges that will affect us only at some distant time in the future. That, at least, is the suggested justification for humanity’s failure to address seriously the problem of anthropogenic climate change over the last half-century, despite increasingly definitive evidence of the existential threat it poses. The frequency of extreme weather events in recent years, however, no longer allows lack of immediacy to be used as an excuse: from flooding and wildfire to sea-level rise, the consequences of climate change are apparent here and now and they are part of the lived experience of people across the world.

The effects of global heating are not restricted to weather catastrophes. As naturalists, we are ever-more familiar with changes to our flora and fauna, as documented elsewhere in this issue (pages 13–20) and previously in British Wildlife. This presents significant challenges to national conservation policies, which have traditionally relied on essentially static networks of protected areas and protected species lists. Despite the announcement of various welcome (but limited) projects, UK governments are yet to promote or implement climate-change adaptation at the scale required to make a meaningful impact.

The October 2021 issue of British Wildlife

In August, the Sixth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided the starkest of stark warnings yet (IPCC 2021). This report was described by the UN Secretary-General as nothing less than ‘a code red for humanity’ (UN 2021). He noted that the internationally agreed threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels of global heating is ‘perilously close… The only way to prevent exceeding this threshold… is by urgently stepping up our efforts, and pursuing the most ambitious path. We must act decisively now…’ With the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) soon to be held in Glasgow, the international community has an immediate opportunity to act on this latest science, and to use it as a solution. But will the response be adequate?

The nearly 30-year history of UNFCCC COPs is chequered and has been (rightly) dominated by issues of international development. Essentially, when the UNFCCC was negotiated, developing countries highlighted the need for developed nations – those with the largest economies and the greatest greenhouse-gas emissions – to take primary responsibility for the global issue they had (albeit unwittingly) created by more than two centuries of carbon-driven industrialisation. For this reason, the UNFCCC’s 1997 Kyoto Protocol (of COP 3) was framed on the basis of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’, placing the primary obligation to address the problem on developed countries (it also, importantly, recognised the contributions to climate change of greenhouse gases other than CO2).

The UNFCCC’s 2015 Paris Agreement (COP 21) made the progressive step of moving away from Kyoto’s top-down assignation of national targets, and instead established a bottom-up approach to delivering objectives through ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ or NDCs. In essence this allows each country to put on the table what it pledges to do, hoping that this is collectively adequate. Importantly, the NDC approach was agreed by, and thus brought on board, the developing countries – still recognising ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ while acknowledging that low- and especially middle-income countries also have individual contributions to make to the global solution.

The human development needs of the poorest countries, however, are yet to be met, as recognised by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thus, for affluent nations such as the UK there are actually two requirements for an effective Paris Agreement: not only to offer an adequate NDC, but also to contribute to the ‘financial mechanisms’ that allow developing countries to skip dirty, greenhouse-gas-emitting industry and move directly to green economies. ‘Resource mobilisation’ from the developed world will therefore be a central focus of COP 26.

Media commentators have been calling recently for binding quotas to be agreed in Glasgow. While theoretically desirable, this will not happen and it misunderstands the complexities of the global political process. Should there be a World Government at some point, such a prescriptive approach might be achievable – but for now it lives in fantasyland (along with alternative economic systems). The reality is, regrettably, much messier and is here for the foreseeable future.

At COP 26, the UK has a unique responsibility to ensure a successful outcome. Not only does it have to contribute an NDC of significant ambition as one of the world’s largest economies, but as conference chair the UK has a crucial cheerleader role, with an onus to encourage all other countries to deliver ambitiously, too. Decisions at the COP will, as is the norm for such meetings, be taken by consensus, which leaves a real risk of lowest common denominator decision-making because all countries effectively hold a veto. The role of the UK diplomatic services here is critical to build momentum, impetus and pressure (as was that of France ahead of 2015’s COP 21). They also have a vital job in gaining prior intelligence from other countries and working to fix problems and issues ahead of time through face-to-face dialogue in other capitals. As at all intergovernmental COPs, most of the content of decisions is developed well beforehand, while the conference itself is used to finesse the details and formally sign off the final texts. With (we hope) all 197 Contracting Parties attending and just a few days available together in Glasgow, there is no time to do otherwise.

Parties will already have prepared their broad national negotiating positions over the course of the last year, not least because for a meeting of such significance these will typically need to be agreed by the head of government. Many parties work together, giving them greater collective influence. National positions further evolve within regional and other negotiating blocks, including the 27 member states of the EU; the G77 (a coalition of 134 developing countries) and China; the African Group; and the multiple Small Island Developing States which, faced by pressing existential impacts from rising sea levels, have become an increasingly influential political force in climate negotiations.

Yet ultimately, while civil servants can prepare much of the ground, at the COP the tough, final negotiations and trade-offs will be undertaken by heads of government and their ministers. In this, simple peer pressure is important: no national politician likes to be presented as internationally unambitious. And personal relationships, as in any negotiation, are key to success.

Public pressure can also play an essential role by creating a political climate in which it is easier to commit to difficult things when they are presented as ‘the desire of the people’. The last few years of school strikes and other radical actions have demonstrated great public concern, rendering it increasingly difficult, for European leaders at least, not to engage. Hence, the environmental community has an important lobbying role, reminding politicians of what is expected from them, not just ahead of the COP but crucially after it as well, and holding governments globally to account. Commitments are easy to make, but also easy to forget (especially when they involve tough policy changes), and an important agenda item at COP 26 will be the first global stocktake on progress in implementing the measures agreed in Paris.

Beyond governments, contributing to the necessary profound societal change involves all of us. The latest form of climate-change denial is to accept the reality but to make no consequential alterations to one’s lifestyle: ‘business (and life) as usual’. Yet everyone will need to make changes – not least to rediscover the much-anticipated (but so far elusive) ‘new normal’ that was predicted to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. This will include switching urgently to more sustainable modes of transport, insulating our homes, changing diet and, critically, reducing consumption and having simpler lifestyles: buy less and live more. In promoting such behavioural changes, the environmental community has an important leadership role within society. Gandhi stressed the need to ‘be the change you want to see in the world’. Exactly.

References
IPCC. 2021. Sixth Assessment Report.
UN. 2021. Secretary-General’s statement on the IPCC Working Group 1 Report on the Physical Science Basis of the Sixth Assessment.

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International Treaties in Nature Conservation: A UK Perspective
By David Stroud et al.
Paperback | Published May 2021 | £19.99

Read our interview with the author.

 

 

All prices correct at the time of this article’s publication. 

Author Interview with Stephen Littlewood: Wild Mull

Wild Mull: A Natural History of the Island and its People guides the reader through the world of the Isle of Mull in its glory, considering every facet of the island’s natural history, diverse species and stories of past, present and future.

Mull is a seaborne landscape off the west coast of Scotland, displaying uncommon biodiversity and full of rare wildlife experiences, but today it faces some of its greatest challenges. With superb illustrations and illuminating text, Wild Mull is testimony to the power of wild places and the duty we have to protect and learn from them.

Stephen Littlewood kindly agreed to answer some of our questions below.

Mull mountainscape across Loch na Keal by Martin Jones

Could you tell us what inspired you to write this natural history of the Isle of Mull and its people?

We live in an era when wildlife is being pushed more and more into the margins, and many people are starved of the experience and understanding of wild places. In this context, there is a consensus that Mull is formidably equipped to display a concentration of land and marine species that is very rare today. It is also a relatively accessible destination. Consequently, the island and its surroundings have become significant attractions for a burgeoning population of wildlife tourists and, it must be said, for the tourism industry which has prospered on the back of a fascination with the so-called ‘wild’. Today, Mull’s reputation for delivering outstanding and intimate associations with many iconic British species draws people from far and wide. However, until now there has been no single resource that explains how Mull came to this position, or what it is about its aggregation of species and habitats that makes it so outstanding. I felt that it was high time to rectify that, but in doing so it was important to address some of the questions that are often overlooked during the pursuit of the profound pleasure to be gained from embracing nature in cherished land and seascapes. The book was always intended to be as much a history, an explanation and an exploration of this special place, as it was a guide to its species and habitats.

White-tailed Eagle by Martin Jones

Visitors typically arrive on Mull with a wish-list of species to see. That list is invariably topped by eagles (white-tailed and golden), otters, puffins, and cetaceans. What people tend to be less appreciative of, or often not at all interested in, is the backstory both to these species and of the multitude of supporting flora and fauna. All of them are equally beautiful and extraordinary in different ways, and it is the sum of their parts that enables the headline species to thrive. I wanted to encourage the reader to explore as much of Mull’s complex biodiversity as possible, whilst also explaining how, in such an apparently injury-free landscape, it is constantly under pressure and subject to continual interventions by people, in the same way as anywhere else. To do so the book had to be factual but at the same time attractive and not overbearing. This meant that it would have to deliver a visual thrill; to make all of it, even the smallest elements, tangible and exciting. I also knew that Martin could sprinkle that magic, embroider the broad design concept, and embellish the text with the kind of high-quality photo images that would prove irresistible to the potential readership. He has done this wonderfully well.

You mention that human intervention has had a profound effect on Mull. Could you tell us a little more about the historical relationship between humans and the environment on the island?

Mull’s environment isn’t perfect, or unblemished. Most of that is down to the fact that people have been surviving on, profiting from, and ‘improving’ it for 10,000 years. If we were going to tell an honest story of the island’s natural history, it had to include the role of people, for better or worse, in shaping it. To begin with, I thought that this would be a tale largely of land use, of subsistence arable farming, grazing by domestic animals, wholesale planting and harvesting of cash-crop conifer plantations and so on. Of course, these are significant elements in the story, but only when I started to examine the historical record did I realise the extent to which species have been manipulated, consciously and unconsciously, by human interventions that have fundamentally impacted the flora and fauna over time. The picture of what we think of as a natural biodiversity, not only on Mull, isn’t necessarily as we perceive it. An extraordinary proportion of our flora and fauna has been introduced, exterminated, or tampered with. What I find interesting is that each time these actions have occurred they have been judged by the social, moral or economic expediency of the age. Today, we may feel confident that we know the right and wrong ways of addressing biodiversity issues, but one wonders if future generations will have a different perspective again.

Dolphins in flight by James West

The pine marten is flourishing on Mull, which is considered by some to be a success story, given their critical status in England and Wales. However, you highlight their potential negative impact on many of Mull’s endangered bird species. How does Mull plan to tackle this conservation conundrum?

In short, Mull doesn’t plan to tackle it at all nor, I think, is it a topic that is widely discussed. The pine marten is a very recent arrival on the island, and although it was not ‘formally’ introduced, it is generally accepted that it is here to stay. Its presence is mostly felt by the inhabitants to be desirable, so hopefully, its impact upon other species will not be to drive them beyond sustainable populations. Its role as a new predator does raise interesting questions, however. It is certainly thriving, but nobody is monitoring the impact of its reintroduction, nor the size of its population. It is a protected species in Scotland, so, therefore, cannot be deliberately trapped, whilst at the same time, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have said that, because its introduction was never officially sanctioned, if it is accidentally caught in mink traps, for example, it should be removed from the island as an illegal immigrant and liberated elsewhere. We don’t really know if its migration is good or bad for Mull’s wildlife, and we don’t have any inclination to find out. I find this a confused response and a fascinating conundrum in the light of current approaches to the restoration of our damaged environments.

Pine Marten, an ‘accidental’ introducation by Nathen Steggles Briggs

Tourism, particularly ecotourism, contributes a large proportion of the island’s economy. However, negative aspects of ecotourism, such as overuse of areas, can lead to environmental damage. What measures are being taken to keep tourism sustainable?

Ecotourism is probably now the largest contributor to the economy of Mull, but again this isn’t a question that is really generating much deliberation about the future or consideration of potential interventions. There are parking issues, particularly in the centre of Tobermory, which have been the subject of debate and are likely to result in the community and local authority trialling solutions to excess traffic in urban areas. However, in terms of ameliorating traffic growth on the roads, the impact of ‘wild’ camping, or the increasing pressures on species such as puffins and otters by wildlife photographers and so on, there is little formal debate and very little coming forward by way of attempts to make tourism more sustainable to protect the environment. It was interesting, whilst writing the book, to reflect upon the significant behavioural responses of wildlife during the Covid-19 lockdowns. There were many discernible changes, both as a response to restrictions upon tourism and the subsequent lifting of those restrictions.

Puffin on Lunga by Martin Jones

Do you have any future projects planned that you can tell us about?

Mull could be likened to an accessible ‘mini laboratory’ with the potential to explore many environmental issues which are being played out on a much bigger stage. I would like to use the prism of Mull to address some of the big questions that arose in writing the book, although unpacking and making sense of the many wicked issues that come to mind is a complex and hazard-strewn path which would be a wholly different kind of journey. In the meantime, perhaps Martin and I will further develop some of the core themes of this book, which continue to fascinate and engage an ever-increasing number of interested individuals.

Wild Mull by Martin Jones

Wild Mull: A Natural History of the Island and its People
Stephen Littlewood (Author) and Martin Jones (Photographer) | October 2021

Climate Challenges: 3. Fossil Fuels

In the lead up to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November of this year, we are writing a series of articles looking at some of the toughest global climate crisis challenges that we are currently facing. This article looks at the use of fossil fuels and their contribution to climate change.

Gerry Machen via Flickr
What are fossil fuels?

Fossil fuels include coal, natural gas, heavy oils and petroleum. They are formed from the decomposition of carbon-based organisms that were buried millions of years ago. This created carbon and hydrogen-rich deposits below the earth’s surface, which can be extracted and burned for energy. Fossil fuels are non-renewable, a finite resource that is being used much faster than can be replenished, but this type of fuel currently supplies around 80% of the world’s energy.

How are they extracted and what are the impacts?

There are several methods of extracting fossil fuels, depending on the type, amount and surrounding area. The main method for extracting solid fossil fuels, such as coal, is mining, where buried resources are exposed by digging or scraping. This can be underground, on the surface or even at sea. Land-use changes associated with mining, such as the construction of access roads, processing plants and other facilities, and the mining itself, have a wide range of environmental impacts. The extraction of coal can pollute local water sources with toxic chemicals and heavy metals, reduce the quality of soil, involve excess dumping of rock and soil and strip the land of vegetation. There are also some very destructive techniques such as the use of explosives, which can have a widespread impact on the local wildlife.

For liquid or gaseous fuels, the method most often used is drilling. This has similar land-use change impacts to mining, but drilling also involves pipelines, the building of which can cause thousands of miles worth of damage. There is also the threat of spillage, such as recently occurred in North Dakota, where nearly 41,000 gallons of wastewater was spilt from a broken pipeline. Oilfield wastewater, also called produced water, contains saltwater and drilling chemicals, including heavy metals. It is not drinkable and can have serious environmental consequences when it’s spilt.

Fracking is another method used to extract gas. The environmental impacts from this method include the release of carcinogenic chemicals into water sources, earthquakes and reduced water availability due to the high volume needed for the fracking process.

Oil pumps in California by CGP Grey via Flickr
What happens when we burn fossil fuels?

Burning fossil fuels generates energy, which is converted to electricity and used for industrial processes and transportation. Since the industrial revolution, our use of fossil fuels has been steadily increasing. The use of fossil fuels is thought to be the primary cause of climate change. Burning these fuels releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at a much faster rate than it can be removed by the carbon cycle. These gases accumulate in the atmosphere, intensifying the greenhouse effect and increasing global average temperatures.

Burning fuels also increases the acidity of precipitation, causes ocean acidification and emits air pollutants, causing respiratory disease.

What are the alternatives?

There are many different alternatives to fossil fuels, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. From hydrogen gas, tidal energy, wind energy, geothermal power, biomass energy, biofuels to wave and solar power, there are several options that companies and countries can use to reduce their carbon footprint. The benefits are reduced direct emissions, the potential for lower fuel prices and that they are renewable energy sources. However, some have their own negative impacts on the environment. For example, wind farms can be harmful to birds, some solar panels are manufactured using heavy metals and are difficult to recycle, and hydrogen gas is mostly produced from fossil fuels. Therefore, simply switching over from fossil fuels to renewable is not an easy process.

However, a higher percentage of the UK’s electricity was powered by renewable energy than fossil fuels in 2020. Renewables powered 43% of our electricity compared to the 38.5% powered by fossil fuels. Together with nuclear power, 59% of the UK’s electricity was powered by low carbon sources. This demonstrates that large-scale use of renewable energy is possible and that we are taking steps on our way to becoming a net-zero country.

Protests in 2015 against the use and funding of fossil fuels by John Englart via Flickr
What is net zero and is it really the solution?

Net zero is the balance between the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. This can refer to the emissions of individual people, companies, countries and the world. It does not mean that fossil fuels will no longer be used however, it instead means that the amount of emissions released is the same as the amount removed. This can be achieved without completely cutting out our emissions output by increasing the removal of greenhouse gases through techniques such as planting trees or capturing carbon during industrial processes. While finding a balance is an important step in tackling climate change as it will reduce global warming, it is not the final solution. The continued use of fossil fuels will have other negative environmental implications, even if our emissions are balanced.

True zero refers to the complete removal of carbon-emitting fuel types from our energy supply or carbon offsetting when using these fuels when renewable energy supplies fall short. This also includes cutting all greenhouse gas emissions, including from sources other than fossil fuels. Carbon negative refers to a carbon footprint that is less than neutral and therefore is removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it is adding. Only two countries are thought to have reached net zero, Bhutan and Suriname, and both claim to be carbon negative. However, both countries still use fossil fuels.

We are already seeing the effects of climate change and the increased average global temperatures. At the 1.5°C increase that the Paris Agreement aims to limit the rise to, we will see even more serious consequences (you can read more about this in our blog: Climate Challenges: What is COP26 and Why is it Important?). One way to truly tackle climate change is to begin reducing atmospheric carbon and greenhouse gases to pre-industrial revolution levels, hopefully allowing average global temperatures to also reduce to pre-industrial revolution levels. To achieve this, more countries must become either true zero or carbon negative.

Summary

• The extraction and burning of fossil fuels have serious negative environmental consequences, including temperature increase, air pollutants and water contamination. The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has steadily been increasing since the industrial revolution.
• There are multiple alternative energy sources, including renewables, but these can also have negative impacts on the environment. They powered more electricity in the UK than fossil fuels in 2020.
• Net zero is the balance between greenhouse gases produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. True zero refers to cutting all carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon negative means removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than is being added. One way to tackle climate change is for countries to aim for true zero or carbon negative to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Useful resources

• Martins, F., et al. (2019). Analysis of Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption and Environmental Impacts in European Countries. Energies, 12(6): 1-11
• This article on renewable energy generation in the UK in 2020: https://www.offshorewind.biz/2021/03/25/renewable-energy-outperforms-fossil-fuels-in-uk/

The Fate of Butterflies and Moths

White Admiral by Ian Watson-Loyd

Across the world, there have been significant declines in butterfly and moth populations. Since 1976, 76% of UK butterfly species have seen a decrease in abundance or distribution, with the abundance of larger moths declining by 33% since 1968. This trend is echoed across UK biodiversity, with 41% of all UK species declining since the 1970s. Butterflies and moths are clear indicators of the broader health of the environment; their decline is a stark warning about our natural world.

Marbled White by C. Mitson

The UK has 59 butterfly species, 57 of which are resident. There are around 2,500 species of moths in the UK, split into two groups: larger macro-moths and smaller micro-moths. Almost 70 species of butterfly and moth have become extinct in the last 100 years. A variety of threats have contributed to these extinctions and the general decline of other species, including the destruction of habitats and major land-use changes, such as the intensification of agriculture. Climate change, chemical pollution and artificial light at night have also all be identified as threats to UK populations.

Butterflies and moths have an intrinsic value in their own right, but they are also an important component in many ecosystems. They provide environmental services, including pollination and pest control and are prey for many other species, such as birds, bats and other insectivores. Butterflies and moths are also important ‘model’ organisms, used for centuries to investigate different areas of biological research and are key to understanding many diverse fields, such as pest control, mimicry, genetics and population dynamics.

The Big Butterfly Count 2021
Peacock Butterfly by Oliver Haines

Butterfly Conservation, a UK nonprofit environmental charity, is determined to reverse this decline. Their vision is a world where butterflies and moths thrive and can be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. To help with the assessment of the health of our environment, Butterfly Conservation runs an annual nationwide citizen science survey, the Big Butterfly Count. Launched in 2010, it is the world’s biggest survey of butterflies.

Big Butterfly Count 2021 ran between 16th July and 8th August (read our blog to see how our NHBS staff got on this year). The results of this count showed that the overall number of butterflies recorded per count is at its lowest since the event began. Over 150,000 counts were registered this year, more than ever before, but the results showed that the populations of some of our most-loved species, such as the peacock butterfly (Aglais io), are suffering. Luckily, it’s not all bad news, as some species, such as the marbled white (Melanargia galathea), appear to be bouncing back from last year’s low numbers. But the significant, long-term decline of many butterfly and moth species in Britain is alarming.

Butterfly Conservation’s new strategy

In their new 2021-2026 strategy, launched in October 2021, Butterfly Conservation outlines a bold, ambitious road map to bringing abundance back to nature. After 16 months of reviewing their position in butterfly and moth conservation, they have defined three new strategic goals:

  1. Reduce the number of threatened species of butterflies and moths by half,
  2. Improve the condition of 100 of the most important landscapes for butterflies and moths,
  3. Transform 100,000 wild spaces in the UK, not just for butterflies and moths, but also for people.
Sussex Emerald by Ilia Ustyantsev via Flickr

To help them deliver their strategic goals, Butterfly Conservation have five initiatives. The first initiative is focused on recovery, through refocusing their science program to increase the understanding of why species are declining and how to recover their populations. They will also establish a new Threatened Species program, which will target conservation action for 65 species at serious risk. Butterfly Conservation will also expand their monitoring program to follow species recovery and gather data on a country-wide level. By 2026, they hope to have increased their species recovery actions by 65%.

The second initiative aims to inspire and enable more people to enjoy the natural world by improving access to learning, particularly for younger audiences. The third initiative is focused on uniting for wildlife, and the fourth is to tackle the threats species face, such as artificial light at night. They’ll achieve these goals by collaborating with a network of supporters and increasing their investment in research by 80% to establish five habitat quality indicators to better understand the impact of conservation work or policy changes. The final initiative focuses on managing land sustainably, by creating a land management advisory hub and delivering and demonstrating best practice land management for butterflies and months across landscapes.

Hummingbird Hawk-moth by Ian Watson-Loyd

Butterfly Conservation believes that the next five years are key and, through their bold new steps to conserve butterflies and moths, they can help to restore biodiversity, mitigate the climate crisis and start to rebuild the relationship between us and the natural world.

Useful resources

New Networks for Nature: Q&A with Amy-Jane Beer

Amy-Jane Beer talking with musician Feargal Sharkey about rivers © Holly Wilkinson

Amy-Jane Beer, a biologist, writer, editor and member of the steering group for New Networks for Nature, kindly took the time to talk with us about the work they do and the importance of their annual event, Nature Matters.

We discuss the role of the creative arts in engaging with the natural world, the political priority of wildlife and how best to get involved.

Firstly, could you tell us about the work that New Networks for Nature does?

Our entire focus is an annual event called Nature Matters: not quite a festival, not a conference, not a symposium, not an exhibition, not a variety show… but with elements of all these. It is two days and one evening of hugely varied dialogues, debates, readings, performances and displays about and in concert with nature. Our contributors are writers, artists, poets, filmmakers, activists, scientists, naturalists, musicians, photographers, conservationists and sometimes politicians and entrepreneurs. Our audiences contain many more of the same, plus publishers, journalists, producers, campaigners, representatives of major NGOs who use the opportunity to make new connections.

Sir John Lister Kaye © Holly Wilkinson

You are a relatively new charity, founded in 2009 and registering in 2016. How did the charity start and what are your hopes for its future?

The first event, held in 2009, was the brainchild of our founders: Jeremy Mynott, Mark Cocker, John Fanshawe and Tim Birkhead – four big thinkers who, in Jeremy’s words ‘shared the conviction that wildlife had a far richer role to play in the human experience than that defined by science or economics alone.’ They decided to try and reach more like-minded, creative souls and rapidly realised that an event offering both inspiration and social connection was a powerful way to build a network. By 2019, pre-COVID, that initial one-day event with 44 attendees had grown to a two and a half-day version with 30–40 contributors and an audience exceeding 250. This is about as big as we can manage on a voluntary basis with a minuscule budget funded purely by ticket sales. It’s rewarding but exhausting for the organisers, and the risk of burnout is very real. So the next phase for us as an organisation has to be sourcing funds that will allow us not only to offer an ever more diverse and accessible event but also to pay for some of the services that currently push us to our limits. It may be we offer a Friends of NNN subscription, seek carefully vetted sponsorship, or grant funding that doesn’t compromise our ethos or creative freedom.

One of your main aims is to challenge the low political priority that is placed on the natural world. Why do you think that there is so little importance placed on wildlife and nature nationally?

As a society we’ve come to take nature for granted, living lives so removed from the true sources of everything that sustains us we forget we’re not only dependent on nature, but part of it. That disconnect means that when we encounter problems, we often come up with solutions that target symptoms rather than the root cause. And the cause, almost every time, is that vast rapacious monster of global capitalism, to which politicians are wedded. Among the most toxic spawn of capitalism is a media that has reduced politics to a frantic minute-by-minute battle over the next headline. How can politicians possibly tackle the big issues when they’re doing that? In the current system, taking time to engage deeply with nature has become an almost subversive act, because it leads, inevitably, in my experience, to a recognition that we need a wildly different path.

Silk demonstration with arachnologist Sara Goodacre © Nick Williams

Your upcoming event, Nature Matters, is an annual creative celebration of nature. How important do you think the creative arts are for exploring and raising awareness about the environment?

The creative arts have a critical role to play in bringing us home to nature. And I say that as a former scientist who ‘jumped the fence’. Creativity was an aspect of my education that was horribly neglected. It’s all well and good to absorb information – to document and analyse and theorise. But in order to know what to do with all that, we need wisdom, emotional intelligence. We need stories, and we need huge amounts of love because love motivates and emboldens us like nothing else. Art makes sense of knowledge. Art asks questions science cannot and is free to go where science cannot see its way. Art lights up some of the dark. And wow, it’s getting dark right now.

This event has a huge varied list of sessions, from nature writing courses to panels on plastics in the environment and a session on nature and spirituality. What are the main goals that you want to achieve through Nature Matters?

Folk singer Sam Lee performing at New Networks for Nature © Nick Williams

New Networks for Nature does what the name suggests. It is mycelial activism. It connects people, with nature and with each other. The events are entertaining but they are not entertainment. Attendees come to listen to and admire amazing people, but also to meet and link to them. We like to think that everyone in the room at a NNN event will go away inspired but also having inspired others. I started attending about 8 years ago, very shyly, but through a few mutual friends was introduced to others and now every year I go along with the express purpose of meeting more people. As the Irish saying goes – a stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet. At NNN, a stranger is a link to many more people, more voices for nature, more opportunities to disseminate, mobilise. Many of my NNN connections have become deep friendships – but they are also highly intentional and purposeful relationships. I cultivate them because, if we can take any lesson from the current political castes, we desperately need a chumocracy for nature.

For any readers interested in your charity and its aims, what are the best ways that people can get involved?

New Networks for Nature audience © Robert Fuller

Come along! The attendees are as much part of the network as those on stage at any event. We bust a gut to keep the cost of attending to a minimum and make it accessible. There are always opportunities to ask questions, to socialise and to connect. As a rule, we don’t invite applications to perform or speak. Each event is organised by a different team and the programmes are themes and very organic. There are always a few big names in the mix but increasingly we tend to feature up-and-coming contributors or less exposed specialists – and to be honest, those more niche sessions are often where the real ‘wow’ moments happen. Unlike other festivals, we’re not really part of the promotion round – no one will get rich or famous or achieve a bestseller by appearing, or achieve social media celebrity. But we hope that everyone will go away with fresh fire in the belly, new light in the mind, and a list of names and allies to add to their personal network for nature.

Nature Matters 2021 will be held in Bath on 19th-21st November and will feature an exciting list of contributors, including ecological activist Satish Kumar, popular ornithologist David Lindo, breakthrough nature writer Nicola Chester, musician and curlew campaigner David Gray and young environmental campaigners Kabir Kaul, Holly Gillibrand and Bella Lack. To see the programme and book a ticket visit https://www.newnetworksfornature.org.uk/2021-event/

You can find out more about New Networks For Nature from their website and by following them on Facebook and Twitter.

 

The NHBS Introduction to Habitats: Urban and Suburban

Pierre Blache via Flickr

The next habitat we will be exploring in our Introduction to Habitats series is urban and suburban habitats. These are extremely diverse, from parks, gardens, cemeteries and bare ground to highrises, bridges, landfills and houses. Due to this wide diversity, urban habitats are often extremely fragmented, with small, isolated patches surrounded by unsuitable areas. These patches are also often highly disturbed, by light, people, pets, cars and other anthropogenic activities. Some species also have to deal with reduced availability of food, due to the limited plant life, and fewer nesting and breeding spaces. Much of the surfaces in the urban environment have been altered, covered in concrete, roofing tiles, and tarmac. This changes the amount of rainwater that can infiltrate the soils underneath, as well as how much heat from the sun is absorbed. The temperatures can be higher in urban areas, particularly when there is little to no tree coverage to provide shade.

To survive in an urban environment, species must be adaptable. Many studies have found key behavioural and physical differences between urban and rural dwellers of the same species. For example, birds have been found to sing higher, longer and louder in cities than in the countryside. Generalist species are more likely to be able to exploit these habitats as they can occupy wider ecological niches. Specialist species can have more restricted diets or need more specific conditions to develop or reproduce, making them less able to adapt to changing environments. Those able to transition from natural to man-made habitats, however, may actually see large fitness benefits, due to fewer predators and, for some species, abundant food supplies.

Gardens and public green spaces can often be a refuge for many urban species, providing food, shelter and protection from other disturbances. But overly manicured gardens and parks do not provide the resources necessary for many species to survive. Wildflowers, hedges, shrubs, trees and other native vegetation are needed to boost insect numbers, along with limiting the use of harmful herbicides and pesticides. Many other species rely on insects for food, and so increasing insect populations benefits other species throughout the food web.

What species can you find here?
Flora:

Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)

Miika Silfverberg via Flickr

This species is a member of the carrot family and is commonly found on verges, hedgerows and less intensively-managed green spaces, with a preference for shaded habitats. It is a fast-growing plant, that appears in the summer before dying back, and its white flowers are clustered together in an umbrella-like shape. They are a great food resource for many invertebrate species, as well as for rabbits. There are several similar-looking plants, including the poisonous hemlock (Conium maculatum), although hemlock has distinctive purple blotches on its stem.

Three-cornered Garlic (Allium triquetrum)

Derek Winterburn via Flickr

This is an invasive species, often found along verges, roadside banks, hedgerows and on waste ground. It can form dense colonies and are spread naturally by ants. Its white flowers have a green stripe on each petal and a garlic/oniony smell. They are edible, tasting similarly to spring onion or chives.

Common Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Simon via Flickr

This plant has multiple common names, including chickenwort, maruns, craches and winterweed. They form large mats and are found in many gardens and fields. It has one line of fine hairs on its stem, with oval leaves and small white flowers. Chickweed was used in folk medicine as a remedy for pulmonary disease and several itchy skin conditions. It is even prescribed today by modern herbalists for many other conditions, although not all these uses are supported by scientific evidence.

English Ivy (Hedera helix)

NatureServe via Flickr
hedera.baltica via Flickr

This is a climbing plant that can often be found on walls, buildings, trees and other man-made and natural structures. It is an evergreen species that can also grow as groundcover when there are no vertical surfaces. The flowers are a greenish-yellow colour and the fruits, which ripen in late winter, can vary in colour from purple-black to orangy-yellow. They are an important food source for many insects and birds, particularly in autumn and winter, and their foliage is also browsed by deer.

Fauna:

Feral Pigeon (Columba livia domestica)

alh1 via Flickr

There are several species of pigeon in our urban areas. Feral pigeons, also known as city or street pigeons, are descended from the domestic pigeon, a subspecies derived from the rock dove (Columba livia). They have substituted their natural habitats of sea cliffs with ledges on buildings and other man-made structures. They have a wide variety of colours and patterns compared to the rock dove, but urban pigeons tend to have a darker plumage compared to individuals in rural areas.

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)

brett jordan via Flickr

An iconic urban species, the red fox is one of our largest land predators. Usually living in groups or pairs, they feed mainly on small mammals and birds, but also amphibians and fruit. In urban areas, they are very successful scavengers, helped occasionally by people who leave food out for them. They are more common in less dense suburban areas but have been found right in city centres. It is thought that the movement between urban and rural fox populations is quite fluid.

European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)

Tero Laakso via Flickr

Another iconic British species, the hedgehog has seen severe population declines, though true population estimates are difficult, due to the lack of data and their elusive nature. In the 1950s, population estimates put the number of hedgehogs in the UK at 36.5 million (although this is not thought to be accurate), which is now thought to have dropped to 1.55 million by 1995. It is believed that populations are still declining, but there are still no reliable methods for estimating the true numbers. They face several threats, including habitat loss, chemical use in gardens, cars and a drop in invertebrate populations.

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Paul Wordingham via Flickr

This bird of prey is not only the fastest bird in the world, but also the fastest member of the animal kingdom, clocking up a dive speed of over 320km/h. Their populations suffered after decades of persecution and pesticide use, but their numbers have begun to recover. They nest in tall buildings, bridges and pylons, and prey mainly on pigeons but also collared doves, blackbirds and starlings.

Garden Snail (Cornu aspersum)

J P via Flickr

A wide variety of invertebrates can be found in urban and suburban habitats, particularly gardens and parks. The garden snail is a common visitor to our lawns, plants and vegetable patches. They’re often considered a pest due to the damage they cause to leaves and fruits but they play a vital role in the health of our soils. They help decompose plant matter, allowing for the cycling of nutrients back into the soil. Snails are also an important food and calcium source for many animals, such as birds.

Urban and suburban environments are also home to many garden bird species, as well as bats, butterflies, moths and spiders. For more information on these, check out some of our guides to UK species identification.

Threats

Urban and suburban areas are becoming more and more densely inhabited as more of the UK’s population moved into towns and cities. This increases the levels of disturbance, from more cars on the road, more noise, light, waste, pets and people. Higher disturbances decrease the ability of species to survive, as they are less likely to feed, develop and reproduce successfully. It can also increase the likelihood of direct mortality.

With a rising human population is an increasing need for more housing and infrastructure. Consequently, this reduces the amount of undeveloped and semi-natural areas; fewer green spaces and the over maintenance of gardens and parks are serious threats to biodiversity in urban habitats.

Public opinion can also threaten urban wildlife. Many species that have managed to colonise the urban environment are considered pests and there are often calls to eradicate them. Fox culls are a controversial suggestion, with many people wanting a way to control the populations and reduce the damage they cause, while others are concerned with animal rights. Additionally, there are suggestions that culls are ineffective, as removed foxes are often replaced by another individual, with no change made to urban population numbers.

What can you do to help?

There are several simple steps you can take to help improve urban biodiversity. You could plant more native plants, reduce the chemicals you use and decrease how often you mow your lawn. Placing bird feeders, nests, and other shelters are also ways that can help wildlife. On a bigger scale, you can urge your local council and government to help too. They could increase the areas of green space and tree cover, and manage roadside verges with nature in mind. Another important step is to decrease light and noise pollution. With some simple steps, we can help to increase the suitability of urban habitats for many wildlife species.

Trees for Life: Q&A with Alan McDonnell

Alan McDonnell, Conservation Manager for Trees for Life, kindly took the time to answer some questions on the important work they do in the Scottish Highlands and their ambitious East West Wild project. The Caledonian Forest has been under threat for thousands of years and, by the 1950s, only 1% of the original forest remained. Since its creation in 1993, Trees for Life has worked tirelessly to restore this forest and its ecosystem.

Alan McDonnell

In this captivating conversation, we discuss the importance of working in collaboration with landowners and local communities, how the Covid pandemic has affected them as a charity, and share different ways to get involved in helping Trees for Life achieve their goals.

Could you begin by introducing us to the goals of Trees for Life and the work that you do?

We are a rewilding charity working in the Scottish Highlands. For us, rewilding is about allowing natural processes to work on a large scale. It’s about creating potential for communities to thrive as a result of the health of the natural environment around them.

Our work has therefore increasingly focused on involving people close to where we operate. Our volunteering programme places an emphasis on nature connection. This includes practical action like planting trees, restoring peatlands, and working in the tree nursery at our Dundreggan conservation estate. In recent years, we’ve been increasing our partnerships with others interested in using nature to benefit people’s mental health. We find this hugely rewarding for everyone involved.

Our practical rewilding work includes restoring red squirrel populations to parts of their original range in north and west Scotland and communities play an important role in supporting that. We’ve also just completed an assessment of the health and resilience of Scotland’s ancient pinewoods, which we hope will be just the start of a journey to secure and expand these iconic woodlands in partnership with land managers. Finally, we continue the work Trees for Life started with, restoring native woodlands to appropriate parts of the landscape.

Dundreggan Nursery © Chris Aldridge

On your website, you state that you believe you can always achieve more through teamwork. Why do you think it is so important for Trees for Life to collaborate with landowners and local communities?

One way or another, we all have a stake in the land and an influence on its future, but people’s priorities are different. If we focus too much on our own interests in isolation, we end up in conflict. This tendency has dogged the land management debate for decades, to the detriment of everyone. We want to help change the focus to one where landowners, communities, and environmental interests look at what they have in common and what they can achieve together. We’ve already seen how this can create new possibilities for sustainable progress, and at a larger scale, for nature, people’s wellbeing, and the local economies that communities depend on.

You have several major projects in the works, including your very ambitious East West Wild project. This project aims to form a coalition of landowners and communities to create a nature-based economy, could you tell us a bit more about what this entails?

The initiative is founded on the precept that nature, communities, and the economy need each other – if one fails, sooner or later it will take the others with it. East West Wild looks at it the other way round: progress in restoring the health of nature in a large landscape can be a catalyst for both social and economic regeneration. We already know that given time and a little help, nature can surge back, so our focus now is how that could create opportunities for people and local businesses. A scoping study has identified nature-friendly forestry, farming, private investment in ecosystem services and small-scale renewable energy as some of the ways in which we can help nature to recover. Such an approach could also create jobs, and sequester carbon through sustainable land use. We’re under no illusions about the challenges involved in attracting the investment to turn these ideas into reality. But we’re also really excited about having the chance to go for such big gains as part of such a diverse partnership of interests.

Birch tree being planted © Trees for Life

The project area stretches from the west coast of Scotland to Loch Ness, encompassing multiple Glens including Glen Affric, Cannich, and Moriston. What was the process behind selecting this area for this project?

One of the earliest aspirations of Trees for Life was to realise the potential for Glen Affric to act as a coast-to-coast habitat corridor, noted I believe by George Peterken in the 1980s. However, as the idea grew in our minds, we knew we wanted to try for a big area to get the ecological multiplier effects that come from genuine landscape-scale change. We also know that the potential here is massive, with a diverse range of woodlands, peatlands, freshwater, montane, riparian, and coastal habitats all capable of restoring themselves. If we can increase the ecological connectivity at this scale, potentially 2000 sq km, the wildlife response that follows will be tremendous and importantly, resilient over the longer term.

Of course, all of that is little more than a daydream if we fail to bring the communities and landowners with us. Our key priority at this stage is to show people that a high level of ambition for the natural environment can positively impact their ways of life.

Trees for Life volunteers in Glen Affric © Trees for Life

Have you found the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the development of this project? How have you coped with the challenges of the current situation?

It’s been both good and bad. It has caused us problems as we’ve been trying to reach out and build new relationships without the spontaneity and informality of face-to-face conversations. However, as we all got our heads around online meetings, we’ve benefited from the speed at which we can meet people and reduced the need to spend time travelling. Hopefully, as we get to the point of starting the initiative in earnest this autumn, we’ll have the scope to meet people in person, which will undoubtedly help the partnership to become genuinely co-creative.

For anyone who is inspired by the vision of Trees for Life and wishes to help, how would you recommend they get involved?

You can learn more about Trees for Life and our vision for a rewilded Scotland by visiting our website.

We hope that our volunteer programme will restart in spring 2022. This includes our popular Conservation Weeks. People should keep an eye out for updates on our website and social media channels.

We have a Cycle for the Climate initiative, where people can raise money for rewilding through bike challenges – both big and small. And of course, we are forever grateful to people who choose to make regular and one-off donations to the charity. This is what we depend on to plan future projects and keep building towards a rewilded Highlands where people and nature enjoy a better relationship.

Trees for Life volunteers © Stephen Couling, Trees for Life

You can find out more about Trees for Life from their website and by following them on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Climate Challenges: What is COP26 and Why is it Important?

In the lead up to COP26 in November of this year, we are writing a series of articles looking at some of the toughest global climate crisis challenges that we are currently facing. But what exactly is COP26?

COP26 is the 26th annual summit of the United Nations climate change conference, taking place in Glasgow from 31st October to 12th November 2021. The Conference of Parties, known as COP, is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its implementation. The UNFCCC is an international treaty acknowledging the existence of anthropogenic climate change and provides the framework for climate change negotiations.

Over 190 world leaders, along with thousands of government representatives, businesses, negotiators and citizens, will convene in Glasgow, Scotland, to update plans for reducing emissions. During these summits, countries set out Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to commit how much they will reduce their emissions. COP26 was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year there will be updated plans for the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Suggested to be one of the most important climate crisis summits ever, COP26 must be divisive to limit global temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels ahead of the approaching 2030. 

The history

The convention began in 1992 during the ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio de Janeiro. The UNFCCC treaty was adopted two years later and has been ratified by 197 countries. The COP began meeting each year from 1995, to review the implementation of the UNFCCC and amend commitments and targets. This will be the first time the UK has hosted the COP.

In 2010, countries committed to limit the global average temperature increase to a threshold of 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels by signing the Cancun Agreements. Further research and several reports from sources such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) showed that to avoid extreme impacts of climate change, the target should be 1.5°C. Thus, the Paris Agreement was created and entered into force in 2016. In 2018, the IPCC released its Special Report of Global Warming of 1.5°C, bringing together the findings of multiple climate scientists to present the steps needed to maintain global average temperature rise below 1.5°C.

The adoption of the Paris Agreement by UNclimatechange via Flickr
What does ‘1.5°C’ mean?

The 1.5°C pledge is the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to below 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels, with an upper limit of 2°C. This is an increase in the Earth’s average temperature, measured from a baseline average temperature between the mid-to-late nineteenth century, during the Industrial Revolution. The impacts of higher temperatures are already being felt, but it is thought that an increase above 1.5°C will be the tipping point for many natural systems.

An increase above 2°C could lead to:

  • Severe heatwaves at least every five years for around 1.7 billion more people
  • Several hundred million extra people exposed to poverty and other climate-related risks
  • An average sea rise of another 10cm
  • It could also cause coral reefs to decline as much as 99%
  • A decline in global fishery catches by another 1.5 million tonnes
  • 18% of insect species could be lost, along with 16% of plants and 8% of vertebrates
  • More erratic rainfall, with more intense rain on days it does fall, leading to up to 79 million people being exposed to the risk of flooding
  • Water stress will increase, with more frequent and longer droughts. Certain countries will see a significant drop in groundwater, and therefore a drop in productivity in crop and livestock farming
  • There may be an expansion in the range of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, increasing malaria transmission by 120%
Lake Mead at 39% of its full capacity in April 2021, a drop of 5% compared to April 2020. This body of water supplies 25 million people across Arizona, California, Nevada, and Mexico. Image by Felton Davis via Flickr.
The process

There is a long road to COP26, which started in December 2020 with the Climate Ambition Summit, co-hosted by the UN, UK and France. 75 world leaders announced new commitments. The next stage was the Climate & Development Ministerial in March 2021, where the challenges and priorities of implementing the Paris Climate Agreement were discussed. 

In April 2021, the Leaders Summit on Climate took place with 40 world leaders, convened by President Biden. Ambitious commitments were made by the US and Japan to reduce emissions by 2030. All members of the G7 were committed to net-zero by 2050. 

In May and June 2021, five events took place: 

  • Petersberg Climate Dialogue, 
  • P4G Seoul Summit, 
  • 12th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) – 6th Mission Innovation Ministerial, 
  • the UN Climate Change Conference – Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies, 
  • and the G7 Leaders Summit. 

These all involved working to accelerate negotiation progress, developing public-private partnerships, promoting policies, and uniting leading democracies, to promote a greener future ahead of COP26. 

Between July 26th and 6th August, the Fifty-Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-54) and Working Group 1 Assessment Report 6 Approval Plenary takes place, providing key inputs from the Sixth Assessment Report into the negotiations at COP26.

In September 2021, four events will occur:

  • 76th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA)
  • Climate Week NYC
  • Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition
  • Pre-COP26

These involve the discussion of the challenges of recovering from COVID-19, a chance to showcase climate action, and allowing 400 young people (between 18-29) to discuss negotiations. The Pre-COP26 is mainly a preparatory meeting, involving the discussion of key political aspects of COP26 negotiations, and a chance to find solutions for any outstanding issues. 

During October 2021, there will be: 

  • UN Biodiversity Conference, 
  • Global Investment Summit: Building A Green Future Together, 
  • World Bank Group/International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings, 
  • G20 Leaders’ Summit. 

These final events discuss the action needed to reverse biodiversity loss, the investment opportunities of net-zero across the UK, and the representation of shareholders on the world economic outlook and other issues. Finally, shared challenges between G20 countries are addressed, focusing on recovering from the pandemic and addressing climate change. 

COP26 begins immediately after the conclusion of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November. 

The G7 Leaders’ Summit 2021 by madison.beer via Flickr
General goals:

The general goals of COP26 are to:

  1. Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach
  2. Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats
  3. Mobilise finance
  4. Work together to deliver

To achieve these, countries must quickly phase out coal, reduce deforestation, increase the speed of the switch to electric vehicles, and encourage investment in renewables. To adapt better, counties must protect and restore their ecosystems, and increase defences, resilient infrastructure and effective warning systems to avoid loss of lives, homes and livelihoods. Developed countries must mobilise at least $100bn (£71.7bn) in climate finances per year, with international financial institutions playing their part. Finally, the Paris Rulebook (a set of rules to make the Paris Agreement operational) must be finalised and there must be an acceleration in action to tackle the climate crisis, especially through the collaboration of governments, civil society and businesses. 

UK goals

The UK government announced in November 2020 a £12billion government investment towards a 10 point plan:

  1. Advancing offshore wind
  2. Driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen
  3. Delivering new and advanced nuclear power
  4. Accelerating the shift to zero-emission vehicles
  5. Green public transport, cycling and walking
  6. ‘Jet zero’ and green ships
  7. Greener buildings
  8. Investing in carbon capture, usage and storage
  9. Protecting our natural environment
  10. Green finance and innovation

There are some success stories in the UK’s fight against climate change, with emissions down 49% since 1990, with the strongest record in reducing emissions over the last decade in the G20. We are the world leaders in offshore wind energy, with the power sector only accounting for 13% of all territorial emissions within the UK. Our Climate Change Act of 2008 was the first of its kind. 

There has been little progress in cutting emissions outside of the energy sectors, however, stifling our process to achieving the ambitious targets of a 78% reduction by 2035. Further plans, such as airport and road expansions and new oil and gas exploration within the North Sea, undermine the UK’s position as one of the leaders in the fight against climate change. 

One key pledge is to protect 30% of the UK for nature by 2030. When it comes to the number of species that have been lost, the UK ranks bottom among the G7 countries and is in the lowest 12% of 240 countries and territories. In 2019, it was reported that 41% of species within the UK were in decline and it is estimated that only 5% of the land is considered healthy habitat. 

Summary
  • COP26 is a summit of the United Nations climate change conference, responsible for monitoring and reviewing the UNFCCC and its implementation. 
  • The aim is to limit the increase in global average temperatures to below 1.5°C (with an upper limit of 2°C)
  • The road to COP26 involves 17 summits, conferences, and meetings over 11 months, leading up to the COP26 event hosted by the UK in November
  • The UK government has made advances and big promises to tackle climate change, but certain plans are undermining their efforts and may be setting the wrong example ahead of COP26.
Useful resources:

Hayhow D. B., et al., 2019. The State of Nature 2019. The State of Nature partnership.

RSPB. Biodiversity Loss: The UK’s global rank for levels of biodiversity. Retrieved from: https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/projects/48398rspb-biodivesity-intactness-index-summary-report-v5-1-1.pdf

HM Government, 2020. The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. Retrieved from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936567/10_POINT_PLAN_BOOKLET.pdf

Stroud, D. A., et al., 2021. International Treaties in Nature Conservation: A UK Perspective. Biodiversity Press

The official website of COP26: ukcop26.org

Q&A with Lynx Edicions

Lynx Edicions is a Barcelona-based publishing house, originally founded in 1989 to create the Handbook of the Birds of the World series. They are known for their fantastic ornithology titles, alongside a varied collection of general natural history. They have published over 150 titles, including field guides and bird checklists, and continually produce exciting works, such as their most recent publication Seabirds: The New Identification Guide, a full, 600-page treatment of all known seabird species. 

Lynx Edicions are our Publisher of the Month for August and have taken the time to answer some questions about their background, motivations, and current major project.

Could you please tell us a little bit about Lynx Edicions and your mission as a publishing house?

Lynx Edicions is a publishing house committed to providing high-quality ornithology and natural history books. It was founded to create the 17-volume Handbook of the Birds of the World series, the first work ever to illustrate and describe in-depth each member of an entire Class of the Animal Kingdom: Class Aves. We then applied the same detailed treatment to Class Mammalia with the Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Our work has not stopped there, but rather it has grown from this strong foundation. Furthermore, we are proud to collaborate with many different organizations and professionals to publish a wide range of titles devoted to promoting understanding and appreciation of ornithology and nature, as well as its conservation.

 

What inspired you to create your flagship publication, the Handbook of the Birds of the World?

In 1980, Lynx Co-founder Josep del Hoyo took a 13-month trip to Africa to explore the wildlife with a special focus on birds. In preparation for the trip, he purchased several bird field guides to help identify the species that he would be seeing. On his trip, he soon discovered that the books were not as helpful as he had imagined – they lacked details and, in some cases, they even lacked species! The experience with the books was frustrating, but Josep just thought that he had purchased the wrong books and that certainly a definitive work covering all the birds existed. However, when he returned from the trip and searched for a comprehensive treatise dedicated to birds, he surprisingly found there was none. This inspired him to create one himself and he was fortunate to find two partners, Jordi Sargatal and Ramón Mascort, to join him in this monumental effort. Together they founded Lynx Edicions in 1989 and set to work on the Handbook of the Birds of the World project.

What is the process of creating handbooks of this scale? What are the challenges involved?

Creating handbooks of this large scale involve a huge amount of collaborative effort and intricate coordination of data, materials, processes and professionals. For example, the Handbook of the Birds of the World includes detailed texts and high-quality illustrations from 277 specialists and 33 illustrators from 40 countries. The impactful photographs are the contributions of more than 850 photographers from all over the world. Of course, behind the scenes is also the hard work of a carefully orchestrated team including editors, coordinators, and production staff, as well as those dedicated to the logistics of selling and distributing the books across the world.

In addition to the challenges inherent in producing such a vast work, there are also challenges related to the important focus of the handbooks – the birds and mammals themselves – with information on species sometimes hard to find. Luckily the international ornithological and mammalogical communities have been highly supportive of the Handbook projects and have come to our aid repeatedly with data, photographs and other help to treat all the world’s birds and mammals in detail. We hope that, in a small way, the Handbooks have also encouraged some professionals to investigate, photograph and even protect species that had formerly not received as much attention.

The Handbook of the Birds of the World includes sections on species known to be extinct; why was this information important to include?

Conservation has always been an important goal of our publications, and we believe that “you cannot protect what you do not know”. So, to start, we aim to explain and illustrate the wonders of the natural world, so that people can see its value and fight to protect it. Another aspect is showing the reality of extinction and those remarkable species that we have already lost, which will hopefully lead people to act to avoid more species crossing the line into extinction. In our Handbooks, Illustrated Checklists, Field Guides and most recently All the Birds of the World, we have included the IUCN/BirdLife International conservation status for every species to help call attention to these important data. We have been very fortunate to collaborate with BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN, Re:wild and other international organizations to pursue the important goals of conservation through our work.

One of the publishing house’s main areas of expertise is in ornithology, with publications including field guides, illustrated checklists, and guides to bird conservation. What, in your opinion, are the greatest threats to bird biodiversity?

Habitat loss is probably the greatest threat to biodiversity on Earth today and it is certainly a devastating threat to bird biodiversity. In turn, habitat loss is directly related to human action as we modify and reshape the Earth for our uses. For example, some of the top threats to birds are related to habitat destruction and degradation, like agriculture, logging, invasive species, and climate change. Action by humans has been especially detrimental to forests, grasslands, wetlands, and other freshwater habitats.

We feel it is important to educate people about the importance of birds and their natural habitats, so that they can be encouraged to protect them and to find ways to coexist harmoniously. This is what has also inspired us to pursue our Field Guide collection for birds, as well as our Illustrated Checklist collection for mammals, in order to give local communities and travellers the tools to discover and protect local species and their habitats.

A current, major project is the Lynx and BirdLife International Field Guide Collection. Can you tell us a little about the motivation behind this series and why it is so important?

Carrying on from the previous point, this project came to life after years of conversations motivated by a shared idea between Lynx and BirdLife International that the existence of country field guides is a basic element for the “emergence” and education of birdwatchers, ornithologists, bird guides and naturalists in any given country, which, in turn, has important repercussions on the conservation of nature and biodiversity, both locally and globally. The principal goal of this collection is to produce modern, standardized field guides, especially for countries without any recent or country-level guide. The main collection is produced in English, including local-language names for the species when an official list exists. But we also have a secondary goal of publishing several of the titles in their local languages to enhance the local effects of the work. We are delighted by the success of the collection so far, with a growing number of titles authored by top experts, and we look forward to producing more now that hopefully travel will increase again after the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NHBS Introduction to Habitats: Heathland and Moorland

Heathland by Torsten Behrens via Flickr

In our new NHBS Introduction to Habitats series, we will be exploring the various habitats found in the UK. In this article, we will take a look at the first habitat of the series, heathland and moorland. Featuring prominently in famous novels such as Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy, heathland is a unique habitat. Originally manmade, it is a product of agricultural grazing and tree clearing practices originating thousands of years ago. Unlike the heathland in countries such as Australia and South Africa, European heathland is relatively low in flora species variety. It is characterised by heather species (Family Ericaceae), but also other plant species such as gorse (Ulex spp.) and bracken (Pteridium spp.).

As this habitat is manmade, it requires management to be maintained. This usually involves a variety of methods such as using grazing animals, removing older species and trees, and controlling the encroachment of scrub. They can even be managed by controlled burning. If neglected, the heathland would be overtaken by successive species and become woodland.

There are several different types of heathland, depending on physical factors such as soil drainage, terrain, and altitude. These types include lowland, chalk, and wooded heath. Lowland heath can be further divided into wet, dry, and humid heath, and upland heath is more commonly known as moorland. The types of species found can vary between these habitats.

What species can you find here?
Flora:

While there may not be a large variety of flora, the species present all play important roles within the habitat. There are also some iconic species within the heathland.

Bell Heather (Erica cinerea)

Bell heather by Jim Champion via Flickr

Between June and September, bell heather blooms across the heathland, creating a blanket of purple. This species is an important nectar source for many invertebrate species, such as the buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and the silver-studded blue butterfly (Plebejus argus).

It is similar to another heather species, cross-leaved heath, but the flowers of the bell heather are smaller and occur around the stem, rather than clustered on one side.

Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus)

Common gorse by Hugh Knott via Flickr

Flowering from January to June, this bright yellow plant provides an early source of food for many invertebrates. As a large evergreen shrub, it also provides shelter for many species, including Dartford warblers (Curruca undata) and linnets (Linaria cannabina).

Common gorse is also very similar to two other gorse species, western (Ulex gallii) and dwarf (Ulex minor). The easiest way to identify the species is by the time of year that they flower and their height, as common gorse grows much taller and can reach up to 2.5 metres.

Common Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)

Common bracken by brewbooks via Flickr

The UK’s most common fern species, it grows in dense groups on heathland and moorland. A bright green during spring and summer months, this species dies back in winter, creating a sea of brown fronds. Bracken is poisonous to grazing livestock, therefore it needs to be cut back to maintain heathland habitats. If left to grow, it can dominate the habitat and out-compete other plant species, such as bell heather, for nutrients, light, and water.

Heath Bedstraw (Galium saxatile)

Heath bedstraw – by H. Ketley

Heath bedstraw is a mat-forming herb found in heathland habitats. It is a fairly common species, found widespread across most of the UK. The white petalled flowers bloom between June and August. This species is a key food source for Britain’s only true alpine butterfly species: the small mountain ringlet (Erebia epiphron).

Key identifying features of heath bedstraw are its square, hairless stem and its white, four-petal flowers that give off a sickly, unpleasant smell.

Fauna:

Heathland supports a large variety of species, particularly invertebrates, but also birds, mammals and reptiles. Several rare species present here are hardly found in any other habitat.

Silver-Studded Blue Butterfly (Plebejus argus)

Silver-studded blue butterfly by gailhampshire via Flickr

This species is found mainly in heathland, chalk grassland, and sand dune habitats, and is almost entirely restricted to southern England. It is a rare species, with the adults appearing between July to September.

This species is sexually dimorphic, meaning the males and females look different. The males (pictured) are blue with a darker border, while the females are brown with red spots along their border. Both have the pale fringe to their wings.

Golden-Ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii)

Golden-ringed dragonfly by Paul Albertella via Flickr

This species, found in heathland, freshwater, and wetland habitats, is easy to identify, due to its distinctive yellow and black markings. Their larvae are aquatic, and so rely on streams or standing water within the heathland to breed. While voracious predators in their own right, they are also an important food source, along with other dragonfly species, for many nesting birds such as the hobby (Falco subbuteo).

Dartford Warbler (Silvia undata)

Dartford warbler by Steve Herring via Flickr

The Dartford warbler suffered a population crash in the 1960s but has since begun recovering. It is a ground-nesting bird, living on lowland heath and relies on gorse for a protective covering. Within the UK, this species is also mostly restricted to southern England. However, there are populations of this species within western Europe, particularly within the Iberian peninsula.

Stoat (Mustela erminea)

Stoat by soumyajit nandy via Flickr

The stoat, also known as the short-tailed weasel or Eurasian ermine, is a small member of the mustelid family, related to otters (Lutra lutra) and the very visually similar weasel (Mustela nivalis). While stoats are slightly larger, the key to discerning this species from the weasel is the tail – stoats have a longer tail with a black tip.

Heathland can also support all six UK reptile species and several of our amphibian species. For more information on those, be sure to check out our NHBS Guide to UK Amphibian Identification and to UK Reptile Identification.

Heathland threats:

Lack of management is one of the main threats that heathland faces. This habitat needs variety, for example, dry heath, wetter areas such as bogs and ponds, patches of older vegetation, and areas of bare, sandy ground. This all improves the biodiversity of the area and helps to strengthen the ecosystem. Without management, these areas could all be taken over by scrub and tree cover.

Clearing for urban development, ploughing, and quarrying also threaten this habitat, and are some of the main causes of heathland loss over the last few decades. Further threats include the expansion and planting of forests, overgrazing, and uncontrolled fire.

More than 80% of heathland in the UK has been lost during the past 150 years, but widespread conservation efforts hope to reverse this. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan, for example, aims to restore 58,000 hectares of heathland, with further plans to recreate 6,000 hectares.

Areas of significance:

Upland heathland or moorland:
– Exmoor, Dartmoor, and Bodmin Moor
– Pennines
– Brecon Beacons
– Other areas such as Yorkshire, Northumberland, Greater Manchester, and the Peak District.

Lowland heathland
– The New Forest
– Ashdown Forest
– South Purbeck Heaths
– Other areas such as Cornwall, Devon, Surrey, and Pembrokeshire

Please note this is not an exhaustive list.