Earlier this month one of the country’s leading conservation groups made the convincing argument that the maintenance of, and right of access to, the countryside was a vital element of the country’s fight against the growing obesity problem. The group, Natural England, stated in their report that England’s natural environment ‘underpins’ both mental and physical [...]

Urban areas such as Natural England’s annual state of the natural environment report claims.
The report states that domestic gardens “make a major contribution to the maintenance of biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services in urban areas.” Native animals such as the common frog, song thrush and hedgehog are found in significant numbers in urban [...]

Pope Benedict XVI is setting a green example in Italy by commissioning the use of renewable energy, and the Pope has in the past encouraged Christians not to waste the world’s resources. Engineers at the Vatican intend the solar installation to be the first of several green changes to the Catholic city, however they say [...]

Last month the Royal Mail released the second collection of stamps in its nature series. Proudly called ‘Action for Species’ the set of ten first class stamps features photographs of rare, vulnerable and endangered insects. Criters such as the luminous Adonis Blue butterfly and the Red Barbed ant could well be appearing at the top [...]

Anyone who has ever been splattered beneath a parcel of plummeting droppings has every right to shake their fists to the sky this week, as it has been announced that urban Pigeon numbers have almost doubled in the last twelve years. Whilst our chip-eating, grey feathered friends have been enjoying this population boom, so too [...]

Natural England has today published its first audit of the country’s natural environment. The seven chapter report, entitled the State of the Natural Environment, focuses on the nation’s landscapes, biodiversity, and human interaction with those spaces, and concludes that the natural environment is ‘much less rich than 50 years ago.’
Dr Helen Philips, Chief executive of [...]

Oil prices closed this evening at $126.29 (£64) a barrel in New York, the highest since trading began, and almost double the sum that each barrel cost in August of last year.OPEC, which contributes over 40 percent of the world’s oil, announced this March that it will not increase production, whilst Saudi Arabia has announced [...]

The mass production of chocolate, crisps and cakes in Britain is leading to violence in Columbia where paramilitaries, guerrillas and armed forces have forced almost 7,000 people to flee their homes in order to make way for oil palm plantations.
Palm oil is used to make margarine and pastries as well as toothpaste, soap, detergents and [...]

An ecotown to be built in south Devon has been granted permission for planning this week. The town, called Sherford is the second of the Prince Charless model towns and will be built for 12,000 people. The first homes will include a free bicycle and 390ft wind turbines will power the mandatory low energy light [...]