#522: Environmental Improvement Plan 2023

You can download a PDF of the new Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) for 2023 on this link (PDF download)

This contains a range of information about the Government's plans to protect the environment. Perhaps it should start by not allowing water companies to pollute the rivers.

Plus a whole range of other work that is not being done....

#414: The National Trust's Weather and Wildlife Review

This has been getting a lot of coverage today in the news: the charity's annual review.

Each year the Weather and Wildlife Review looks back on how weather has impacted wildlife through the seasons at the places the National Trust looks after.

One in six species in the UK are currently threatened with extinction and we're seeing the impact that the climate crisis is having on both common and rare species.

The review shows that our changing climate has led to the slow loss of predictable weather patterns and how traditional seasonal shifts are causing chaos and confusion for wildlife and people.

The incremental shifts we’re experiencing in terms of our seasons extending may not feel like much in a 12-month period, but over a decade the changes are extremely significant.

Ben McCarthy: National Trust Head of Nature Conservation and Restoration Ecology

With 2024 declared the world’s hottest year on record, it signals a red alert for nature. As global temperatures rise, scientists have previously said that the UK is likely to experience a wetter climate. That reality is now playing out in real time, impacting landscapes, nature and the places we look after. 

Following record-breaking warm years in 2022 and 2023, 2024 was mild and very wet by comparison, with unsettled weather dominating forecasts across the UK in the past 12 months.

2024 has seen record-breaking warm and wet months as well as temperatures see-sawing from one extreme to the other within a matter of days. 

Storms, flooding and multi-hazard weather events bringing snow, rain and wind simultaneously in different pockets of the country have caused destruction and disruption. Unusual sightings in the natural world from across the year also act as warning beacons for what’s happening to our wildlife and seasons. 

#171: 'Two million species at risk of extinction'

... and many of them are insects which form the basis of many food chains...

Number of species at risk of extinction doubles to 2 million, says study https://t.co/3pc4OUMuVW

— Guardian Environment (@guardianeco) November 8, 2023

97% of all animals are invertebrates. Of that group, about 90% are classified as insects. They provide vital ecosystem services: pollinating crops, recycling nutrients into soils, and decomposing waste.

 “Without insects, our planet will not be able to survive.”

This is further worrying news in a week of worrying reports. And all the while, the government just rearranges the deckchairs on the Titanic...

Image: Leaf Hopper, Alan Parkinson - shared under CC license

#110: The State of Nature? Not good...

Cross posting from my LivingGeography blog.

Earlier this week, a report on the state of the UK's nature was released. It makes for grim reading... 

This is the latest in a series of reports exploring the steady decline in the UK's biodiversity, and the likely risks to other species as food chains and webs begin to break down. The decline in insects is vital, for example.

State of Nature Data is also available from the same website.

Here we present the data underpinning the State of Nature report. For the first time we are excited to include an interactive app (below) where you can explore the data in more detail, at a UK and country scale. We also include the metadata file with the full references and a guide to interpretation of the data and data files to download.

Some headline figures:

Download the infographic from here.

Humanity has now impacted every part of the Earth System

Atmospheric carbon dioxide ⏫ >50% and methane ⏫ >150% since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution

We have warmed the planet by 1.2˚C

All due to capitalism, colonialism and global consumer culture.#Anthropocene pic.twitter.com/vDxBWLdE0d

— Professor Mark Maslin 𝕏 🙄 (@ProfMarkMaslin) September 28, 2023

#95: National Trust report on people and nature

The National Trust has recently released a report on the relationship between people and nature, in association with the University of Derby.

It is worth exploring to see some recommendations for how we might strengthen the relationship betwen people and nature.

Noticing Nature is the first stage.

Download the full report from here.

You can also search the hashtag #Everyoneneedsnature

The report reveals that ‘noticing nature’, or simple everyday interactions with nature, were the most closely linked to conservation action. The most important interactions were:

• Watching wildlife (for example birdwatching)
• Listening to birdsong
• Smelling wild flowers
• Taking a photo/drawing or painting a picture of a view, plant, flower or animal
• Taking time to notice butterflies and/or bees
• Watching the sunrise
• Watching clouds.

‘Nature connectedness’ was also a key factor in conservation action. Reading and talking about nature, environmental behaviours, levels of concern, and knowledge of nature also helped explain conservation behaviours.

#44: Climate Change Insights report from the ONS

The Office for National Statistics produces a quarterly report which provides the results of surveys which they have carried out with a healthy number of respondents. 

One was published in May 2023 which may be of interest and relevance to those who are exploring the impacts of the climate emergency on the natural world. 

Good to see 73% of adults in Great Britain are concerned about the loss of natural habitats or wildlife - above the 64% worried about the impact of climate change in the latest @ONS data. Both matter, but wildlife loss has had much less attention: https://t.co/tTKeGek2zY pic.twitter.com/DhDEVTkxz8

— Miles Richardson (@findingnature) May 12, 2023

Almost two-thirds (64%) of adults in Great Britain said they were worried (somewhat or very) about the impact of climate change in the past 12 months.

Of those who said they were worried, around three-quarters (74%) said that they were concerned about the impact on future generations; this was highest among those aged 70 years and over (83%).

The most recent decade, 2013 to 2022, has seen an increase of 26% in the annual average number of summer days and a 16% decrease in icing days (days where the air temperature does not go above freezing) in the UK compared with the 1991 to 2020 average.

Charts can also be obtained from the report's page.

#32: International Day for Biological Diversity

There will perhaps be certain days when the teaching of the GCSE Natural History will refer to a particular designation.

22nd of May is designated by UNESCO as International Day for Biological Diversity.

There is reference made to the international report in this area.

There is plenty to discover here.

A case study of Guarani knowledge, for example.

#20: People's Plan for Nature

The People's Plan for Nature is worth a look I think as we get closer to the development of resources.

Great to see the #1 theme in an imagined future is a closer relationship with nature - and an honour to be part of the #PeoplesPlanforNature process. Download the full report here: https://t.co/KSKs28g3x5 pic.twitter.com/dCPeZ8r65o

— Miles Richardson (@findingnature) March 23, 2023

There is a PDF download to the full report - 99 pages.  (PDF download)

This was the number one response from people:

The three most urgent actions the People want to see are:

• To put nature at the centre of decision-making
• Farming subsidy systems to prioritise sustainable and nature-friendly farming
• Greater government accountability through a permanent Assembly for Nature