GWCT News Blog

The use of the term “peatland burning” (or peatland fires or burning peat) is factually incorrect and misleading when used in conjunction with criticisms of grouse moor management.

During the 2021 breeding season, the Owl Box Initiative’s monitoring team began box checks in May and continued, at occupied boxes, until the last chicks were ringed in October. The longer breeding season was, in part, due to a number of barn owl pairs across our study areas producing a second brood.

In the wake of COP26, climate change is something many of us are thinking about – and rightly so. Following COP21 in 2015, 195 nations committed to try to keep the global average temperature no more than 2°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, aiming for less than 1.5°C of warming. You might then be asking, why 1.5°C?

Speaking at this year’s Oxford Farming Conference, NFU President Minette Batters hailed the positive impact of Britain’s farmers, describing them as working conservationists and urging politicians to remember the people who lay at the heart of a better future.

This spring, GWCT researchers will be starting a new research project looking into one of the most contentious issues around the release of gamebirds in the UK: the idea that gamebird releasing may attract foxes and other generalist predators into an area.

The government’s ambitious plans for landscape recovery are to be welcomed, but we mustn’t forget the role of people in this.

Earlier this week, Defra gave its response to a petition launched last year arguing that ‘only a proper ban’ will ensure the future of woodcock.

Defra has published updated General Licences for wild bird control in England effective from 1st January 2022 until 31st December 2023.

The Three Legged Stool states you need a suitable habitat, food throughout the life cycle, and then reasonable freedom from predation for birds to flourish.

Environment Secretary, George Eustice MP, has announced the payment rates farmers will receive for the environmental measures they carry out on their land in a new scheme called the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).