Sussex Wildlife Trust celebrates success in legal battle to stop Marine Conservation Zone dumping as licence is quashed sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/sussex-... Short-snouted Seahorse © Paul Naylor

When the bill returns to Parliament, should Labour whip the vote against art.130, they are proudly saying that Labour are not a party that gives a damn about nature. For a nation of nature lovers; our govt is tone deaf. Write to your MPs now, please.

New paper - Learning about a topic by interacting with AI chatbots rather than following links provided by web search can produce shallower knowledge Just saying ... academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

I met some extraordinary people at the IUCN WCC; I was even fortunate enough to record one of the conversations…:

The shame of living where moving from Environment Sec. to Housing Sec. is seen as a promotion. The double shame of living where the integrity of our politicians shift according to the labels written on their office door. Remind your local MP: With no Nature, there’s no roof that can shelter them.

A mandatory swift brick for every new home won't be supported by Housing Secretary Steve Reed. That's quite a u-turn from the former Environment Secretary. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Yep - @greenparty.org.uk just secured my vote. Come for the environment; stay for their social agenda. And for the naysayers; you tried Blue (a lot), Red isn’t going all that well… so maybe in three years, it’ll be time to go Green.

Is anyone pleased with the Planning Bill? Wildlife Groups are (rightly) ‘displeased’. The Govt. continues to spout hyperbolic claims of “unshackling” Britain. And NOWHERE can I find quotes from anyone in the building sector who is genuinely excited! www.propertyreporter.co.uk/the-planning...

The hope that quashing environmental protection will kickstart UK building is a derided fallacy. Building stops when ppl can’t afford houses: “…the market remains uncertain…” Taylor Wimpey “…we saw build costs increase by around 33%… house price inflation (is) flat.” Persimmon It’s Not Newts!

That said; with a united backing, I would call on @wclnews.bsky.social to coalesce around a strong and bold vision that is uncompromising in placing nature and the environment at the top of their agenda.

Anything less than a united voice is proving easily batted away by a government prioritising *Planning* above the *Environment*. @wclnews.bsky.social is our best current mechanism to mount an opposition. I call on all British eNGOs (big & small) to work together to refocus the Labour govt.

In Abu Dhabi since yesterday attending the World Conservation Congress of #IUCN which will end on 15 October 2025. Great place to learn and meet #conservationists and #naturelovers @davidoakes.bsky.social

PLAN: 1. Locate 2nd/3rd homes on the UK mainland worth in excess of £1m. 2. Rehouse all inhabitants of Isle of Wight into these properties (reimburse previous owners with gratitude and certificate saying they’ve provided a social good.) 3. Rewild IoW - including reintroduction of Lynx & Wolves.

If you've not discovered @thenerve.news yet, their first edition is out today and is more than worth diving into.

Gosh, what a mystery. Whatever could have happened to them? No bodies, no tags, no prosecutions, no accountability, no deterrent. This will continue. #RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/29/t...

Took D1 to meet @drjessfrench.bsky.social and some of her mini-beasts at the Bath Children’s Literature Festival yesterday. Jess is ALWAYS an enthusiastic whirl of joyful entomo-trivia! Flashback listen: www.treesacrowd.fm/dr-jess-fren...

A renewed perspective upon the genocide we could, as a nation, work harder to halt. Please take time to read.

Very well deserved!! 🌳🌳🌳

"10 years after the Paris Agreement, governments plan to produce more than double the volume of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C" Stark "production gap" report from @unep.org today www.sei.org/publications...

I would **love** to interview Walton Ford for the podcast… …if any one contemporary artist epitomises the juncture between art and nature (alongside my love of the absurd and grotesque!) then it is he; “John James Audubon meets Hieronymous Bosch” as someone once told me. @treesacrowd.bsky.social

Good news for Golden Eagles in south Scotland. What fate awaits the fledgling, 'Princeling'? (Apart from a trip to town to change his name by deed poll - Eagle McEagleFace would have been better than that!). #RaptorResearch raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/08/19/c...

Woke in Cumbria Grazing Herdwick gently purring Can I climb hill yet?

Today we're in court! Our case challenging overgrazing on Dartmoor will be heard over the next two days. Wish us luck. Read the press release from our lawyers: wildjustice.org.uk/sssis/legal-...

Spent the day promoting the Woodland Trust’s TREE OF THE YEAR 2025 competition on National and Regional Radio; and when I wasn’t doing that, I was gleefully finding baby caterpillars in fresh peas! VOTE: woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-...

Becoming Earth, an essay by Robin Wall Kimmerer for @emergencemagazine.bsky.social & @humansandnature.bsky.social emergencemagazine.org/essay/becomi... #naturewriting

Last year, I took a research trip to Cookham Dean - the place that inspired The Wind in the Willows, visiting the original Wild Wood - Bisham Wood - & walking the banks of the Thames. @davidoakes.bsky.social joined me for a charming podcast chat podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

'A rumbunctious new telling of Tolstoy’s story... epic and absorbing' ★★★★ The Times Anna Karenina adapted for stage by NHB author Phillip Breen is now on at Chichester Festival Theatre. Get your playscript copy at the venue, or online: www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/anna-karenin...

Calling everybody who walks, runs, wheels, cycles and rides! Who's up for helping to create the ultimate walking, running, wheeling, cycling & horse riding network for Britain and Ireland? Please check out, back and share our new #SlowWays crowdfunding campaign 👉 www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/slowways ⭐

Thousands of protected places in England are at risk from the planning bill in its current form, according to legal opinion. We must all write to our MPs – only major amendments or a Labour rebellion will stop massive near-future wildlife destruction. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Farmers trying to do the right thing are yet again getting frozen out by this government, which seems determined to make the wrong decisions at every opportunity. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

“Anna Karenina” opens at @chichesterft.bsky.social in just under 2 weeks time! 🌳 Come to see me, a man who is fascinated by nature, the shifting of the seasons and agricultural reform, play Levin - a man who is fascinated by nature, the shifting of the seasons and agricultural reform…

Keir_Starmer you say Labour is the party of work, why then is it, that for the first time in 15 yrs I’m being forced out of a job I love because of a DWP decision made on your watch? I desperately want to concentrate on my job but I can only work with the right support 4/4

For fuck’s sake… I saw Jess’ show at the Barbican around a decade ago. No single work of art has informed my perspective upon making the arts accessible more. This is an avoidable disgrace, one perpetrated by a government who should - in name at least - support those who wish to work.

The latest ECO Chamber podcast is out ⚡ This week the team is joined by RSK Wilding's legal counsel Alexa Culver to unpick the implications of the controversial Planning Bill and its legal impact on the UK's international obligations... Tune in now 🎧 www.endsreport.com/article/1917...

Daughter #1: “Who died first?” Answers on a postcard.

STOP PRESS! We have launched a crowdfunder to help support our legal challenge against the badger cull licences, which will be heard in the High Court later this year. Any help you can manage would be massively appreciated. Thank you! 🦡⚖️🔽 www.crowdjustice.com/case/legal-c...

We are utterly dismayed by this news. The loss of ancient woodland to a development anywhere is shameful. To see it destroyed in a National Park beggars belief. This proposal contravenes multiple regulations and sparked vast opposition locally and nationally. 🧵 1/2 👉 buff.ly/OIP5tbf

*Copy one of Boris Johnson's stupidest and most self-destructive policies. *Ignore the massive wave of public fury it ignited. *Smear and attack anyone warning that it might not be a great idea. In this week's column I ask what the hell Keir Starmer is playing at. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Can anyone tell me what this government actually wants to fight for? This was an open goal, Labour. An open goal.

Attempt to protect rare chalk streams in Planning and Infrastructure Bill rejected by Labour MPs. Thank you @elliechowns.bsky.social for so passionately speaking up for this today. Very disappointed in the government. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

OK, this is wild. In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them. It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*. What the HELL? 1/

VICTORY‼️ The Court of Appeal ruled Braverman’s anti-protest law was unlawfully made This ruling shows: ministers can’t rewrite law behind closed doors We demand justice for those targeted under these powers ✊🏽Solidarity with all who resist oppression in the streets & the courts! #DefendDemocracy

Went to see the boss today. We *SO* need a second marble alongside Charlie boy. @nhm-london.bsky.social

Delighted to have formalised my long-standing relationship with the Manta Trust. They’re a fantastic organisation, rooted in proper research and conservation science, and I look forward to pushing the value of such an enigmatic species for decades to come. www.mantatrust.org #MantaTrust

Scientists! Our planet needs your voice! I beg you to join me, Chris Packham & 100+ scientists on May 13th in a peaceful gathering in Parliament Sq, to put pressure on the government to be informed by - & ACT ON - science. tinyurl.com/Scientists2025 Pls help spread the word #BringScienceToPolitics

“…but, we need a scapegoat anyways, so…!”

UK government admits almost no evidence nature protections block development The government’s own Impact Assessment for its Planning Bill states “there is very limited data on how environmental obligations affect development” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Set to be a very interesting discussion:

Before heading to rehearsals for an epic-theatrical adaptation of a Russian classic, I am concluding a report on amphibian behavioural research and potential conservation applications for mitigating the chytrid fungus panzootic. CAKE, AND EAT IT! Spoiler: Russian Romantics & Frogs both screwed.