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Exclusive: Campaigners attack ‘outrageous’ situation, saying waters in protected areas of England and Wales should be cleanest
Sewage is pouring into the rivers inside national parks at twice the rate that is occurring outside the protected areas, it can be revealed.
Campaigners described the situation as “outrageous” and said rivers and lakes in national parks in England and Wales should be the cleanest and most protected in the country.
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Nigel Topping says shifting course risks deterring capital, as he urges ministers to hold firm on green transition
Weakening or changing net zero policy would deter investors and spook financial markets, the UK government’s new climate adviser has warned.
Nigel Topping, recently appointed chair of the climate change committee (CCC), said there was “robust evidence” the UK would benefit economically from strong climate policy, despite calls from some politicians to back down.
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Loss of spawning pools, insects and marshy habitats has had ‘catastrophic effect on our flora and fauna’
Hedgehogs, salmon and birds have been put at risk by this summer’s dry conditions, Natural England has said, as drought conditions continue.
The government nature watchdog addressed the National Drought Group of government officials and stakeholders in its meeting on Monday to warn of the dire effect on wildlife the dry summer weather has had.
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Report from group of MPs calls for broader access to rivers, woodlands and fields to improve connection with nature
Swimming and wild camping should be a right for all people to enjoy in the English countryside, Labour MPs have said.
They are calling for access to nature to be increased and legal rights to enjoy the countryside in a report from the all-party parliamentary group for outdoor recreation and access to nature.
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Buxton, Derbyshire: Our discovery apples have mainly gone to the jackdaws and crows. But here come a dozen red admirals, and they know what they like
The floss from willowherb seed flared as it passed through strips of sunlight between our fruit trees. But a secondary, far stranger source of glitter came from below. Every few minutes, among the intervening grasses, newly hatched craneflies bulbed out the earth, their unfurled wings sparkling as they dried and waited to launch. Above were the sounds of ravens on display, the birds barrelling down and then flipping on to their backs as they flew momentarily upside down.
All these heterogenous details converged in a single announcement. It’s autumn! Yet it was our discovery apples that best summarised the season. This year’s crop is a rich rose colour and has been beckoning to the local birds for weeks. While we’ve harvested a third, most has gone to jackdaws and crows, along with the blackbirds and tits. I’ve seen the corvids flying off with whole hunks of flesh, but the small birds quarry out pits in the skins of the hanging fruit.
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Exclusive: Planning documents show impact of Thurrock ‘hyperscale’ unit as UK attempts to ramp up AI capacity
A new Google datacentre in Essex is expected to emit more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to about 500 short-haul flights a week, planning documents show.
Spread across 52 hectares (128 acres), the Thurrock “hyperscale datacentre” will be part of a wave of mammoth computer and AI power houses if it secures planning consent.
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Campaigners crowdfund £26,000 to seek judicial review of move to construct pitches in wildlife-rich area
Campaigners are mounting another legal challenge to the building of a women’s football academy by Tottenham Hotspur on wildlife-rich parkland in north London.
The Guardians of Whitewebbs group has successfully crowdfunded £26,000 to seek a judicial review of Enfield council’s granting of planning permission for the Spurs academy, which will include all-weather pitches, floodlights and a turf academy built on 53 hectares (130 acres) of Whitewebbs Park. Enfield council’s planning committee approved the proposals in February, despite local protests, on greenbelt parkland rich in bats, newts and mature trees.
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We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.
This week, from 2022: A tide of effluent, broken laws and ruthless cuts is devastating the nation’s waterways. An academic and a detective have dredged up the truth of how it was allowed to happen – but will anything be done?
By Oliver Bullough. Read by Peter Searles
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Julia Chuñil is one of 146 land defenders who were killed or went missing last year, a third of them from Indigenous communities
One day last November, Julia Chuñil called for her dog, Cholito, and they set off into the woods around her home to search for lost livestock. The animals returned but Chuñil, who was 72 at the time, and Cholito did not.
More than 100 people joined her family in a search lasting weeks in the steep, wet and densely overgrown terrain of Chile’s ancient Valdivian forest. After a month, they even kept an eye on vultures for any grim signs. But they found no trace of Chuñil.
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Download one or many of our beautiful colouring sheets from artist Pete Cromer
Pete Cromer’s signature artwork provides the distinctive look of the Guardian/Birdlife Australia 2025 bird of the year poll.
You can create your own bird of the year masterpiece by downloading and printing these colouring PDFs featuring previous winners and runners-up in the bird of the year vote. There are individual ones for specific birds, or for those wanting more of a challenge, one sheet with several birds.
Australian white ibis
Black-throated finch
Gang-gang cockatoo
Laughing kookaburra
Australian magpie
Splendid fairy wren
Swift parrot
Tawny frogmouth
Mindfulness colouring page with all birds on one page
Multipage PDF with all the abovebirds
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