Blogs

Last week I caught up with Welsh Governments James Owen Deputy Director, Land Management Reform Division who’s in charge of directing the new Sustainable Farming Scheme. 

Jake Fiennes is the director of conservation at the Holkham Estate, which covers 25,000 acres in north Norfolk. The estate includes a nature reserve, which is visited by almost a million people a year, and a farming business that grows potatoes, sugar beet and barley. James Swyer met with him to find out more.

GWCT Head of Education Mike Swan looks at what's involved when creating a new pheasant shoot from scratch.

Today we sent this letter to Màiri McAllan MSP, newly appointed to the Scottish Government as Minister for Environment, Biodiversity & Land Reform.

Over the last few months, we have been eagerly watching the activity of the nesting pair of barn owls on Owl Box LIVE. Earlier in the season we captured evidence that the pair were breeding and subsequently the female laid four eggs.

Every autumn we use PIT tags to mark juvenile salmon, which are detected at East Stoke when they go to sea as smolts and when they return as adults. 2021's first two PIT-tagged two-sea-winter salmon have been detected as they pass our floating PIT antennae:

Habitat loss for over 80 years, often incentivised by Government to increase food production, will not be reversed overnight but there is cause for hope. 

The drive to plant trees to sequester carbon raises the potential conflict between carbon and biodiversity and at present it seems that carbon trumps biodiversity.

This Thursday (20 May) marks the fourth annual World Bee Day. Given that more than 75% of the world’s food crops depend on pollination, it’s remarkable that this has been so long in the making.

On 19th April we highlighted an increase in the number of lapwing clutches predated by badgers at Auchnerran, our Scottish demonstration farm. Now, almost a month later, we can provide an update. 3 minute read.