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First of the trusts, formed with 12 people in a Norfolk pub in 1926, buys swath of farmland to restore to nature
The place where Norton Wood once stood is now a vast field of decaying wheat stubble. The ancient wood was grubbed up during the second world war. No trace of it remains – on the surface, at least. This ghost in the landscape lives on only in the name of the local village: Wood Norton.
But trees will soon be bursting upwards again and the wood will regrow after Norfolk Wildlife Trust celebrated its 100th birthday by buying a swath of farmland to revive for nature.
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New European Code Against Cancer calls on politicians to phase out use of fossil fuels in homes
Cutting air pollution should form part of government strategies to reduce cancer rates, the European Code Against Cancer has recommended.
The code previously focused on advice to help people to reduce the air pollution that they breathe. But, for the first time since its launch in 1987, it has given clear direction to governments.
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Photographer Murdo MacLeod patrols the snow with members of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service, which has for several decades published a vital daily avalanche forecast for mountain areas
Scottish avalanches are back. More than 200 have been recorded this winter, against the previous year’s record low of 42. The worst season for fatalities was 2012-13 when eight people died, four of whom were buried in deep snow when an avalanche struck without warning while they descended Glen Coe’s Bidean nam Bian.
Fortunately, so far – despite one person being carried a distance down Ben Nevis and two people falling through cornices and triggering slips – there have not been any confirmed avalanche deaths, though one person is still missing on Ben Nevis. The search goes on in and around the sites of recent avalanches.
A mountain rescue team looks for a missing climber in Observatory Gully on the north face of Ben Nevis, an area where there has been a succession of avalanches
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The 55 pilot whales, which had to be euthanised, had been following a female having a difficult birth, scientists believe
The mass stranding and death of 55 whales on the Isle of Lewis in 2023 was caused by the mammals’ loyalty to their pod, a report has concluded.
It had been thought that the unusually large incident on Tràigh Mhòr beach, Tolsta, could have been caused by trauma, disease or acoustic disturbance from military or industrially generated noise.
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Badenoch and Strathspey, Cairngorms: Conservation efforts to help them are working – numbers are still small, but I’ve seen signs in the late winter snow
It is always interesting to see how overnight snow reveals what goes on under the cover of night. Around the granny pines, I see the smaller fore and larger hind prints of a red squirrel. Across the fields and along pinewood paths, there is evidence of hares and badgers, pine martens and deer, before they veered off, back into the heather and blaeberry understorey.
On a recent walk, I came across some less familiar animal tracks around the edges of the pinewoods and I was convinced they were those of a wildcat. After going to a talk by the Saving Wildcats project I’m even more certain. The project was launched in 2015 after conservationists feared the wild population was facing extinction in Britain. It involves captive breeding followed by careful release and monitoring – and so far it has been a success.
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The court of justice said Portugal had committed serious infringements of EU environmental law
Portugal has been fined €10m (£8.7m) by the EU’s court of justice for failing to comply with environmental laws that require it to protect biodiversity. It has also been ordered to pay €41,250 a day until it complies with a previous court order made in 2019.
The court said it was imposing the maximum fine possible to “encourage” Portugal to bring the infringement to an end.
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This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
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In this week’s newsletter: From nature projects to biodiversity funds, key programmes will suffer as the UK aims to lower its international climate finance commitments by billions
The UK’s spy chiefs are accustomed to being listened to at the highest levels of government. Prime ministers and cabinets take notice when the joint intelligence committee (JIC), which directs MI5 and MI6, warns of threats to national security. Except, it seems, when it comes to the future of the planet.
Last year the JIC produced a hard-hitting report which, the Guardian revealed, found the collapse of globally important ecosystems around the world – including the potential shift of the Amazon from rainforest to savannah, the demise of coral reefs, and the loss of glaciers – would threaten the UK’s national security, through food shortages at home and the potential for conflict overseas.
Dirty water, death and decline: the inside story of a privatisation scandal
Global sea levels have been underestimated due to poor modelling, research suggests
‘I live in constant fear’: surge in giant sinkholes threatens Turkey’s farmers
What exactly is climate finance? Who pays it? And who gets it? | Explainer
We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – here are the first three steps | Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis
Biodiversity collapse threatens UK security, intelligence chiefs warn
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The country’s network of footpaths is growing – with hopes they will develop local economies and better preserve the environment
Follow the yellow footprints along Brazil’s newest long-distance trail, and they will take you through lush green forests and sandy shrubland, past sweeping vistas and bizarre rock formations, into grottos and rural communities.
Spanning 186km (115 miles) of paths once used by 19th-century merchants, the Caminhos da Ibiapaba is the first waymarked long-distance footpath in Brazil’s north-east region, adding to a growing network of hiking trails in the country.
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Jenny wants to spread her wings and see the world, but Teddy is happy at home. Where do they go from here? You decide
•Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror
I worry about my carbon footprint, but you can’t go everywhere by train and I want to see the world
It’s not an environmental issue. I’ve just had my fill of flying anddon’t really enjoy being a tourist
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