Into the woods: connecting with nature
Join us for this month's 'Into the woods' blog by Tristan Haynes, who shares how a woodland adventure helped him and his family.
Updated: Tue Sep 17 2024
Drop in numbers of nesting hen harriers in 2024
Hen harriers are very rare birds of prey found in moorland landscapes. They are rare because of illegal killing and disturbance, and Natural England monitors their numbers closely, tags individual birds to track their whereabouts, and supports efforts to tackle ...
Updated: Mon Sep 16 2024
Getting winter ready: a case study
We recently met up with Tom, a dairy farmer in Cornwall, who had made some major changes to his farm infrastructure. Tom acted to bring his slurry storage into compliance with the Silage, Slurry and Fuel Oil regulations and to ...
Updated: Mon Sep 16 2024
Coverage following the first meeting of the Floods Resilience Taskforce
Today we are looking at coverage of the first meeting of the new Floods Resilience Taskforce and the key takeaways
Updated: Fri Sep 13 2024
Green Infrastructure: delivering quality of life and environmental benefits for communities
David Drake, Director, People & Nature at Natural England In January 2023, Natural England launched the Green Infrastructure (GI) Framework to support the creation of good quality Green Infrastructure which maximises benefits for people and nature. GI helps local authorities, ...
Updated: Thu Sep 12 2024
The different types of fish monitoring
My name is Dan Hayter and I work for the Environment Agency as a fish and eel specialist in the National Monitoring Field Team and the Fisheries, Biodiversity and Geomorphology team based in East Anglia. There are many elements to ...
Updated: Thu Sep 12 2024
Wet winters leading to more macroalgae in Solent, but nutrient reduction offers hope for the future
If you spend time on or around the water of the Solent's harbours, you will likely have noticed high levels of bright green macroalgae, on the shore or in the water. Wet winters are causing an increase in green macroalgae ...
Updated: Tue Sep 10 2024
Can we really build a windfarm in two years?
The MMO's Strategic Renewables Unit (SRU) was established in 2021 to enhance MMO's role in renewables deployment by supporting improvements to renewables rollout beyond individual cases. Recently, the assertion has been made that if it wasn't for delays with consenting ...
Updated: Mon Sep 09 2024
Coverage of the introduction of the Water (Special Measures) Bill
Today we are looking at coverage following the introduction of major legislation to crack down on water bosses polluting Britain's rivers, lakes and seas
Updated: Fri Sep 06 2024
It's a great time to be in forestry
As part of our new Forestry Careers campaign, David Bole, Head of Sector Capacity and the Green Economy at the Forestry Commission, shares the excellent and varied opportunities the forestry sector offers.
Updated: Fri Sep 06 2024
Selling woodland or peatland carbon: could it be right for you?
Did you know that if you plant a new woodland or restore peatland, you could sell the carbon benefits? When it comes to carbon, UK buyers are leading the way - so the time to get involved is now.
Updated: Fri Sep 06 2024
Coastal Planner Corner
The MMO have marine planners based around the English coast. Their role is to engage with you for the development, implementation, and monitoring of marine plans. You can find out who your local coastal planner is and their contact details ...
Updated: Thu Sep 05 2024
Marine Planning: Team changes and recruitment
We are excited to welcome three new team members to Marine Planning since our last update: Frances Procter - Senior Marine Planner (Natural Capital and Net Gain Lead) Emma Cooper - Marine Planner (Biodiversity and Habitat Lead) Char Lewis - ...
Updated: Thu Sep 05 2024
Navigating Fisheries Science: Insights and emerging issues by fisheries scientists
In July 2023, The Fisheries Society of the British Isles (FSBI) 2023 Annual Symposium, co-convened by the University of Essex and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) aimed to discuss the latest fish biology and fisheries science, ...
Updated: Wed Sep 04 2024
Government announces TB Eradication Strategy refresh to end the badger cull
The new strategy will use scientific evidence to help the Government to meet the goal to eradicate TB by 2038
Updated: Tue Sep 03 2024
Progress in second year of the hen harrier southern reintroduction
The hen harrier southern reintroduction aims to establish a wild, farmland nesting population of hen harriers in the south of England. Supported by a conservation breeding programme, the project plans to introduce up to 100 juvenile hen harriers to a protected ...
Updated: Tue Sep 03 2024
Internal Marine Plan User Training Programme
In June and July, the marine planning team at the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) delivered a comprehensive training programme to enhance the understanding and use of marine plans in the organisation. This initiative aligns with the MMO's Corporate Plan and ...
Updated: Fri Aug 30 2024
Natural England's role in licensing to control badgers to prevent the spread of bovine Tuberculosis
Current government policy is to enable culling or vaccination of badgers to control bovine Tuberculosis (bTB). The Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs has today (30 August) announced a refresh of the strategy for control of bovine ...
Updated: Fri Aug 30 2024
Strategic Renewables Unit - Update
The Strategic Renewables Unit (SRU) aims to ensure the MMO's vision of a prosperous future for our seas, coasts and communities is supported through deployment of sustainable offshore wind and other marine renewables. To learn more about the SRU, please ...
Updated: Fri Aug 30 2024
The Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) Challenge Game goes Global
The Marine Planning Team works with the MMO's Marine Global Team to help aiming to better protect and sustainably manage their marine environments. Credit: Indonesia Nature Film Society, Rekam Nusantara Foundation Turkey Paul Gilliland, Head of Marine Planning, was recently ...
Updated: Fri Aug 30 2024
The Marine Spatial Planning Challenge Game
Used around the world by policy expert, decision makers and stakeholders to explore the challenges and opportunities of sustainably developing our oceans and seas. The interactive format of the game demonstrates the challenges and complexities of marine spatial planning. Credit: ...
Updated: Fri Aug 30 2024
A summary of the recent updates to SFI
Today, we published a summary of recent changes to the actions and scheme information for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) on GOV.UK. This post summarises the changes.
Updated: Thu Aug 29 2024
Capital grants in 2024: an overview
In this post, I'll provide an overview of capital grants for environmental land management, the current offer and recent updates.
Updated: Thu Aug 29 2024
Reflecting on the first six months of BNG
By Chris Kaighin - Deputy Director, Biodiversity Net Gain Services It has been six months since the world-leading initiative Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) became mandatory for most planning applications under the Town and Country Planning Act. BNG makes sure development ...
Updated: Thu Aug 29 2024
Surveying fish on the River Stour
My name is Dan Hayter and I work for the Environment Agency in East Anglia. Part of my job involves monitoring the number of fish we have in our rivers and one way I do this is through fish surveys. ...
Updated: Thu Aug 29 2024