GreyShuck

Devastating pictures have shown the catastrophic impact of wildfires in the Highlands.

Firefighters have been battling the inferno for three days after the alarm was first raised near Carrbridge and Dava shortly after 4pm on Saturday.

The fire quickly spread to Dallas, outside Forres in Moray, and it's understood that at the height of the incident the blaze reached around nine miles long.

A new haven for a rare mammal will be unveiled near Newton Stewart this weekend.

The Vincent Wildlife Trust has been working with Forestry and Land Scotland to create a pine marten haven at Kirroughtree Visitor Centre thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The development, part of the charity’s Martens on the Move project, will give visitors the chance to learn about pine martens thanks to a new hide and information boards.

A new study published today shows that sowing a green manure seed mix in autumn can provide safe places for Corn Buntings to nest while improving soil condition on farms.

RSPB Scotland is now calling on the Scottish Government to include autumn-sown green manure in future agri-environment schemes as soon as possible.

Once widespread across the UK, Corn Buntings have suffered huge declines particularly in East Scotland where numbers plummeted by 83% between 1989 and 2007. This earnt them the unfortunate accolade of being one of Scotland’s fastest declining species. Work by farmers in Fife and Angus has dramatically improved the fortunes of this bird there. By growing wild bird seed mix, farmers have provided the three key things Corn Buntings need: seed for food in winter; insects to feed their chicks in spring; and, safe nesting sites.

This is the best time of year to see Britain’s largest insect, the stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, with its distinctive jaws that look like antlers, hence its common name.

The males, which reach up to 75mm long (3ins) look formidable but are completely harmless. At this time of year they fly at dusk looking for much smaller females. If you are very lucky you will see two males, jaws locked in combat, jousting for a female.

Sadly, they are an endangered species and have disappeared from some European countries, so the UK population is important. They live mostly in the south, particularly around London because of the warmer climate, but can also be found in northern England, albeit rarely. A stag beetle hunt is being held by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species to map as many of their habitats as possible.

Following the Government’s recent move to protect England’s nature-friendly farming budget in the Comprehensive Spending Review, The Wildlife Trusts argue that nature-friendly farming must move centre-stage as one of the most cost effective and efficient ways to reach nature recovery and climate targets across vast swathes of the country.

Nature-friendly farming benefits not just wildlife and farm businesses, but also works to reduce flooding risk, tackle climate change, clean up waterways and increase food security. The Wildlife Trusts' Vision for the Future of Farming in England front cover

The Wildlife Trusts maintain that the entire food system – including politicians, supermarkets, food producers and farmers – must think long term about their support for a nature-positive and climate-resilient farming sector.

Crayfish conservation is accelerating across Wales as organisations work together to protect the white-clawed crayfish, a native species at risk of disappearing from Welsh rivers.

Once thriving across Wales, the white-clawed crayfish is now endangered and faces extinction due to increasing pressures from invasive species like the North American signal crayfish, pollution, climate change and ongoing habitat loss.

To help combat their decline in Wales and boost remaining populations, conservationists are working to establish Ark sites, which are locations where new populations of white-clawed crayfish can safely be established.

Controversial water pollution measures will be evaluated by an independent group including farmers, environmental groups and agri-food representatives before going out for a second consultation, the environment minister has announced.

Andrew Muir said he was "determined" to chart a way forward on the long-delayed Nutrients Action Plan (NAP).

The NAP aims to reduce water pollution from agricultural sources and the latest plan is already overdue.

One of the UK's rarest mammals - a grey long-eared bat - has been discovered at a nature reserve in Devon.

The species, which had not been seen at Seaton Wetlands since 2013, was spotted at a guided bat walk event there earlier this month.

Grey long-eared bats are incredibly rare, according to Wild East Devon, which manages 10 nature reserves. Fewer than 1,000 of them are thought to remain across the UK, it said.

The head of the government’s wildlife regulator has said he remains enthusiastic about reintroducing lynx to Britain and would be “absolutely delighted” if it could be achieved during his two-year term.

But Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, said debates over the animal’s release were “still quite polarised” and more engagement was required to understand how communities would be affected.

The Lynx UK Trust has submitted a draft application for a trial return of lynx to England’s largest forest, Kielder, in Northumberland, using wild animals rescued from culls in Sweden.

Suspected arsonists have devastated part of a popular Teesside nature reserve – killing birds and scorching an area of marshland.

A large section of Coatham Marsh in Redcar, which is home to many species of flora, fauna and wildlife, including many nesting birds, was set alight at about 6pm last night, Thursday, June 26. The blaze, which took firefighters nearly two hours to extinguish, covered the area with thick smoke and caused the cancellation of train services due to pass nearby.

A large area of grassland and reedbed habitat – roughly around the size of two football pitches – has been badly damaged, with devastating impacts to wildlife. It’s suspected various ground-nesting birds, including reed buntings and reed warblers, will have perished in the flames.

An old wooden signpost from a national park is on display in the Natural History Museum, due to having 12 species of lichen living on it.

The fingerpost from Exmoor has been part of the 'Fixing Our Broken Planet' exhibition at the museum since April to act as an example of an item recovered from an area with clean air.

Organisers said the aim was to help educate people and "explore nature-based solutions that can help create a more sustainable world".

Ranger Charlotte Wray, who assisted in the recovery of the post, said it was "such a joy to help tell the story of Exmoor".

Following a bad year for butterflies in 2024, the charity Butterfly Conservation is stressing it’s more important than ever that people take part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count.

Last year the charity declared a nationwide butterfly emergency because of declining butterfly numbers, after participants in the annual survey spotted just seven butterflies on average per 15-minute count in 2024, a reduction of almost 50% on 2023’s average of 12, and the lowest in the history of the Big Butterfly Count.

It was also the worst summer in the count’s history for a number of popular species including small tortoiseshell and common blue.