The Blackmoor Copse Dormouse Monitoring Team made some surprising discoveries regarding the nesting material hazel dormice were using in their woodland during the hot summer of 2022. Blackmoor Copse, a 90-acre oak-over-hazel-coppice wood, is owned by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and lies deep in south-east Wiltshire. The dormouse nest boxes – which have numbered between 90 …

You’d suppose, given that Rudolph is traditionally a boy’s name, that Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is male (or a bull, as male reindeer are known) but one thing – in fact, two – suggest otherwise… Girl power Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) are unique among deer species in that females, as well as males, grow antlers. Each …

Free advice available to farmers and land managers on how to maintain this iconic habitat throughout prime hedgerow management season and beyond This autumn and winter, wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is offering free hedgerow management advice to farmers, landowners, and land managers across the UK. Following just six steps will make …

Lions will only survive if conservationists make bold, brave decisions and devise innovative strategies – and that’s what PTES Conservation Partner Amy Dickman is doing across swathes of East Africa where lions are found. Dangers to lions and humans Imagine, says Amy Dickman, joint chief executive of the conservation group Lion Landscapes, that you were …

5th May 2022 Dear Minister, Re: Assault on nature protections   We are deeply concerned about the UK Government’s Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, laid on 22 September. This represents the single biggest potential modification of environmental law in the UK in recent history. It puts at risk hundreds of laws that are …

As Halloween approaches and the days shorten, the lights will come on a little earlier. It’s a feature of urban environments we often overlook, but for many species it’s the dark, and not the light, that’s home. Night and day Artificial light at night (ALAN) means fewer dark habitats, and while it makes our own …

Hedgerow management at the individual level is underpinned by the hedgerow management lifecycle (developed based on work by Nigel Adams): recognising the fact that hedges are living and dynamic entities. The next step in the journey of hedge management is to consider the wider landscape context. Developing a hedgerow management plan raises many questions. Which …

It’s National Hedgerow Week and this year we are celebrating hedgerows as homes for wildlife. From bats in the tree canopy, to song thrushes in the scrub layer and hedgehogs at the hedge base, a multitude of species call the hedgerow network home. In fact, one study counted 2070 species in one 85m stretch of …

Badgers and boars Male badgers are known as boars, and female badgers, as sows and, while wild boar and badgers are very different beasts, it isn’t hard to see a resemblance… Wild boar (Sus scrofa) belong to the group Artiodactyla (hoofed mammals with an even number of toes), along with deer. Badgers (Meles meles), on …

Open letter from 78 organisations responding to The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill and Planning and Infrastructure Bill to weaken planning protection. 3rd October 2022 Dear Prime Minister, Your government’s recent moves toward environmental deregulation will hasten the decline of our natural world. Together, The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill and Planning …

We have a longstanding partnership with Snow Leopard Conservation Foundation (SLCF), led by Bayara Agvaantseren, to protect snow leopards in the Tost Nature Reserve, South Gobi, Mongolia. We’re pleased to share with you some considerable achievements. This partnership is making a real, tangible difference to the future of snow leopards in Mongolia, and we’re committing …

Gaining key insights into how to manage hedgerows for dormice Recently launched, the National Dormouse Footprint Tunnel Survey will use footprint tunnels to detect the presence or absence of the charismatic but rare hazel dormouse in hedgerows. The need for surveying hazel dormice is clear: it is thought that their population has halved in the …