The Angling Trust: The Channel Island of Sark has become the first place in the UK to ban the controversial wrasse fishery supplying live wrasse to the Scottish salmon farming industry where they are used as cleaner fish removing sea lice from farmed salmon. The Angling Trust has been calling for a UK-wide ban on […]
Defra ‘Environment Secretary Michael Gove has today confirmed a ban on plastic straws, drinks stirrers, and plastic stemmed cotton buds in England, following overwhelming public support for the move. Following an open consultation, a ban on the supply of plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds will come into force in April 2020. The ban […]
Guardian ‘Floods in 2009 and 2015 were worst in Cumbria for centuries – study’ Analysis in north-west England linked to evidence of UK’s vulnerability to climate crisis The floods of 2009 and 2015 in north-west England were the worst for more than 550 years, according to groundbreaking analysis of lake sediment in the region. Residents have long suspected that […]
NCC ‘This paper sets out the NCC’s advice to government on net environmental gain. It considers recent commitments to mandate net biodiversity gain and the broad goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan. In its 2017 advice to government on the 25 Year Environment Plan (25 YEP), the NCC proposed that the concept of natural […]
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) review of current planning policy for sustainable drainage (SuDS) in England has recently been published – but we question whether this exercise could have had more to do with validating the Government’s current policy approach, rather than an accurate and critical review of the application and […]
‘The Guardian has updated its style guide to introduce terms that more accurately describe the environmental crises facing the world. Instead of “climate change” the preferred terms are “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown” and “global heating” is favoured over “global warming”, although the original terms are not banned. “We want to ensure that we are being scientifically […]
The Environmental Audit Committee launches an inquiry on the impacts of invasive species and their management. Non-native species are those living outside their natural range which have arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental. Of these, invasive species are those that negatively affect native biodiversity, ecosystem services and public health, through predation, competition […]
Defra ‘Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey has published the first progress report of its landmark 25 Year Environment Plan indicating that, in the first year alone, 90 per cent of the plan’s actions have been delivered or are being progressed. Over the last 12 months, the government, amongst other actions, has: set out plans to ban […]