GreyShuck

joined 1 year ago
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Planting flowers in urban green spaces across Cornwall "significantly boosted numbers" of pollinating insects, new research has showed.

The University of Exeter said it partnered with Cornwall Council and civil engineering firm Cormac to plant flowers, trees and shrubbery across 78 hectares in 15 Cornish towns.

They were planted in places including parks, small green spaces, road verges and closed churchyards.

Scientists at the university said the wildflowers led to a "two-fold increase" in flower visits by certain pollinators, particularly solitary bees and solitary wasps.

 

More than 1.9 million trees were planted in 2023 as part of a major project to boost woodland cover across northern England, it has been revealed.

The Northern Forest project will see 50 million trees planted from coast to coast and around cities such as Liverpool, York, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Hull by 2043.

Since 2018, nearly eight million trees have been planted - with the highest number recorded last year, the Woodland Trust said.

[–] GreyShuck 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)
 

The Oxford Rivers Portal, a website and map that helps people understand the health of the Thames and its tributaries in Oxfordshire and make informed choices about safer river conditions, has been launched today by environmental charities the Rivers Trust and Thames21 and research institute the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).

The launch of the Oxford Rivers Portal follows increasing public concern over the state of England’s rivers, as well as a growth in interest in wild swimming and watersports.

On a single map, it brings together live raw sewage spill alerts, water quality measurements taken by the Environment Agency and citizen scientists, water levels, flood warnings, bacteria measurements at bathing water sites and sewage treatment rates* at both Oxfordshire’s designated bathing waters, Port Meadow in Oxford and Wallingford Beach. Users can zoom in and click on any of more than 2,000 locations to find out real-time information or data from the past three years.

 

Volunteers are being sought for a scheme to introduce wildlife wardens in West Devon.

The project is being launched by West Devon Borough Council on 28 September at the authority's office in Tavistock during an event from 10:30 to 15:00 BST in collaboration with Devon Wildlife Trust.

The council said work would be carried out through the scheme to improve habitats and monitor the borough's ecology with the aim of protecting and increasing wildlife locally.

 

Groups involved in a pioneering project to transform a floodplain into a thriving wetland habitat are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the start of their work.

Long Preston Floodplain in is a unique wetland area around parts of the River Ribble between the Yorkshire Dales and Forest of Bowland.

Since 2004, several organisations have worked with farmers in the area on the project, which is ongoing.

 

A rare British bat species has been spotted dangling from a toilet block after a century’s absence from Derbyshire.

The lesser horseshoe bat had not been recorded in the county for more than 100 years before being seen on 14 August.

A Severn Trent ranger at Ladybower Reservoir spotted the winged mammal sheltering under the porch of the toilets at the Heatherdene Car Park.

He photographed the animal, allowing it to now be confirmed by experts at Derbyshire Bat Group as the rare species.

 

A pioneering project to boost golden eagle numbers in southern Scotland is facing the "imminent threat" of being wound down.

The South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project (SSGEP) said it needed to raise £400,000 in order to secure its long-term future.

The scheme has brought the birds from other parts of the country to a secret location near Moffat since it started in August 2018.

However, it has now launched a public appeal for funding to ensure it does not have to fold.

 

A PROJECT's pioneering role involving Isle of Wight expertise in helping to protect and restore the Solent's marine biodiversity, has gained global recognition from the United Nations.

The Solent Seascape Survey — the first seascape-scale marine restoration project in the UK — has been designated an official UN Decade Action.

The project's uniqueness lies in its recognition of the critical role of connecting key habitats in The Solent — salt marshes, seagrass beds, oyster reefs and seabird sites — due to the collective benefits they provide.

 

A PROJECT is working to restore ponds and wooded habitats for wildlife in Shropshire.

Through the Farming in Protected Landscapes funding programme, the Shropshire Hills National Landscape team has been able to support farmers to deliver bigger projects to benefit the Shropshire Hills landscape.

In the Clee Hills area, a project across five farms is creating or restoring 14 ponds and associated wooded habitats for wildlife, including great crested newts.  A survey is assessing the connectivity and condition of habitat corridors connecting the ponds and identifying target areas for future habitat work.

 

Thousands of purple jellyfish have washed up on a beach on the Isles of Scilly.

The 'Mauve Stingers' are fairly uncommon in the UK and are more likely to be found in warmer European waters like the Mediterranean, according to the Wildlife Trust.

While only small, they are capable of a powerful sting and glow brightly at night if disturbed.

[–] GreyShuck 5 points 1 day ago

I've had the same number for 24 years now. I have only ever had a handful of spam calls in total over that time.

I probably get one a month or so on my work number.

[–] GreyShuck 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Basically all of them.

A quick skim shows me that the only people who have called me this so far this year are:

  • Doctor
  • Dentist
  • Sister
  • Wife
  • Close friend

I expect that this would be much the same for last year too.

I have no reason not to speak to any of these.

17
submitted 1 day ago by GreyShuck to c/nature
 

Pupils in UK schools are missing out on regular opportunities to experience nature that have been found to improve mental well-being and attainment, despite the hard work of many passionate teachers.

This is the key finding from a new report published today by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as children go back to school after the summer holidays.

New research in the Schools for Nature report, conducted by The Education Company, and with input from 1,885 schools across the UK, shows that only 24 per cent of schools provide daily opportunities for pupils to experience nature.

[–] GreyShuck 2 points 1 day ago

Some great shots here - thanks for submitting!

[–] GreyShuck 5 points 1 day ago

More appropriate to early April than early September, I think, but I'll allow this one.

[–] GreyShuck 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Doctor who (2005) s01e07 - Kronkburgers on Satellite 5 in the opening scenes.

 

We are into September and the equinox is not so far away, so it is time for our seasonal banner competition.

So please comment below with a link to any photos that you have taken or artwork that you have made that you would like to be considered for the banner. Let’s say a maximum of three items per person; photos that you have taken or art you have created and have the rights to; something suitable for the subject of the community: maybe a natural landscape, or wildlife, or volunteers working for the environment (as long as you have the permission of anyone identifiable in the photo) or something along those lines. And preferably, but not necessarily, “Autumn” themed.

I’m not absolutely clear about the optimum dimensions etc for a banner, but the size and shape of the section that appears varies with the browser dimensions and appears differently again in the sidebar, so keep that in mind. Otherwise the larger the better.

I’ll leave this post stickied until midnight on Sunday Sept 15th for submissions then put up a voting thread for the following 7 days with all the submissions that we have by then and then decide the winner. It'll basically be on upvotes, but I reserve the right to disqualify any ‘Naturey McNatureface’ ones or others that I really don’t think are suitable. The winner will become the banner until the winter solstice and the next competition, and obviously we’ll make it clear in the sidebar who should be credited for that banner.

[–] GreyShuck 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Looks like it:

with most of our woodlands, we will be hosting year-round volunteering and community events, enabling people to enjoy, learn about, and connect with nature," Tom shares. These events will offer opportunities for people to get involved in the project, whether through tree planting, wildlife monitoring, or participating in educational programs.

The link to get involved is here.

[–] GreyShuck 4 points 1 week ago

Excluding pretty much everything that I saw as a kid - when you go into basically everything blind - it would be After Hours (1985). I either hadn't read anything about it or hadn't been paying attention. Standing outside the cinema, I just saw that it was by Scorsese and went in.

I still think that it is one of his most under-appreciated films. And I loved the Ted Lasso homage, combining it with the Divine Comedy.

[–] GreyShuck 1 points 1 week ago

This isn't related to the UK, so doesn't really fit in this community: UK Nature and Environment.

[–] GreyShuck 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

As the article about the donations, linked to within this article, says:

"Of course, the company responsible should pay, but the timing and outcome of the investigation by the Environment Agency (EA) is uncertain, and we must act now to protect nature as best we can."

[–] GreyShuck 10 points 1 week ago

I was at a long-term beaver reintroduction site earlier this year. It is official, well managed and has been going for a couple of decades or more now. This topic came up and I got the impression that they had a pretty good idea who had released some unofficially at at least one other spot in the area.

Although well managed, the fences at this site - as any other - do get damaged from time to time and there are 'escapes'. But there are a good number of people who have been involved in the project over the years and a lot of them have very different views to the government on how releases should be handled. I think that some of the accidental 'escapes' had assistance - and transport.

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