News

Wildlife conservation NGOs issue two open letters to oppose a review of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which could undermine decades of work to restore and protect threatened species. You can read our open letters here: 28th January 2022 28th June 2021 What’s happened? Every 5 years the species listed in Schedules 5 and …

‘Northern stronghold’ for rare hazel dormice created in Lancashire This week, a unique partnership of 10 organisations are coming together in an attempt to bring hazel dormice back from the brink. 39 dormice are being reintroduced into an ancient woodland in Lancashire. This reintroduction follows the milestone reintroduction in 2021 that saw 30 hazel dormice …

The Aral Sea in Central Asia is synonymous with ecological and socio-economic collapse. At the centre of this region lies, what until the sea largely vanished, used to be an island: Vozrozhdenie (meaning ‘Resurrection’). This remote island has been home to critically endangered saiga antelope for at least 400 years. Until recently, the unique biodiversity …

The Nature Recovery Green Paper, which Defra published on 16 March 2022, includes sections on consolidation and rationalisation of species protection and the creation of a new tiered approach to species protection in England. As a champion and leader for conservation and research for some of England key mammal species, PTES has a significant interest …

Magnificent stag beetles Sadly, the incredible stag beetle is threatened across Europe. PTES has been working to save stag beetles for nearly 25 years. We’ve funded research, collected records through our Great Stag Hunt survey, and more recently, we have joined the European Stag Beetle Monitoring Network. What is the European Stag Beetle Monitoring Network? …

Spring is well underway and hedges across the countryside are rich with colours and sounds as blossoms emerge and wildlife awakens. This time of year provides a really great opportunity to start thinking about the diversity of flowering plant species across the hedgerows that we manage. Observing the hedges across a field, garden or park …

House building efforts in the UK are a constant source of contention. Too many? Too few? Whatever the case, it’s undeniable that development all too often affects our wildlife and the dwindling habitats they rely on to survive. Many of our species in our nature-depleted country are impacted by infrastructure projects. Yet there are measures …

Peat extraction is devastating for biodiversity and the climate If you have ever owned a house plant or planted something in a garden, it was almost certainly grown in a peat-based product. Despite understanding for decades the damage that peat extraction is doing to both biodiversity and the climate, industry-led voluntary efforts have failed to …

An encounter with a dormouse During a recent trip to one of our Nottinghamshire dormouse woodlands I happened to stumble upon another wild dormouse nest. It was hidden amongst a patch of bramble and rose scrub that was winding its way up a hawthorn tree, on the edge of a young coppice compartment. The nest …

If you own a woodland or you visit one regularly, please keep a particular eye out for stag beetles on warm sunny evenings from the end of May to the end of July. You can tell us about any sightings via our Great Stag Hunt survey. Stag beetles and woodland habitats Stag beetles are one …

The recent drought in Kenya is one of the worst in memory, with failed rainy seasons in three consecutive years. Our colleague Ali and his team have been working tirelessly to save as many animals as possible. Ali recently sent us an update, including news that the rains have at last arrived. However, there’s been …

Human activities can influence animals in different ways. Some animal species can adapt to new environments by changing their behavior. Others don’t show such flexibility and aren’t as successful at adapting. The type of human activity which animals are exposed to is one of the main factors determining their behavioral responses. Tracking giant otters in …