PAUL HARRY
GREEN & BLUE
TOBY ROXBURGH/2020VISION
KATHYE DeWITT/ALAMY
ARUP
BREXIT UPDATE
Farming and Fisheries Bills need more work
As part of the arrangements for leaving the EU, MPs and Peers have recently debated both a new Fisheries Bill and a new Agriculture Bill for England. These two key parts of the legal Brexit jigsaw will have a signifi cant impact on the health of our natural environment on land and at sea. On the Agriculture Bill, we have
worked hard to ensure there will be long-term funding at the right level to restore and reconnect wildlife habitats on farms, and to create a Nature Recovery Network. On the
Work by The Wildlife Trusts will ensure UK fi shing is sustainable
Fisheries Bill, we have sought to strengthen its sustainability objectives to ensure a healthy marine environment.
Red squirrels more diverse than thought
The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales have discovered new genetic diversity in the mid-Wales red squirrel population. Analysis of hairs left on sticky pads in a feeding station has identifi ed a unique sequence of DNA. This is great news for the squirrels, as it means their diversity is better than scientists thought. That variation will help them adapt to changing environments. The research was part of the Mid Wales Red Squirrel Project, a branch of Red Squirrels United.
The study obtained DNA from hairs stuck to sticky pads in the feeder
A new home for bees
Farm subsidies will enable farmers to reconnect habitats
HS2 dooms 19 ancient woods
HS2’s newest phase, due to connect Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds, off ers ‘derisory’ consideration of wildlife, The Wildlife Trusts said in a consultation last year. The 176 miles of track will seriously damage 12 Sites of Special Scientifi c Interest, 111 Local Wildlife Sites and 19 ancient woodlands. “HS2 Ltd’s work lacks suffi cient
HS2’s proposals pay little heed to the amount of nature the project will engulf
proposals to compensate for nature’s loss,” says Katherine Hawkins, Senior Living Landscapes Offi cer. “We have challenged it to create and restore more wild places than are being destroyed and damaged, and to save irreplaceable wetlands and woodlands.”
Solitary bee homes are hard to fi nd in modern gardens, but an ingenious solution – the bee brick – can turn a wall into a bee hotel. Bee bricks are full of holes in which solitary bees can lay their eggs. They can be used on their own, or built into a wall. Last summer, The Wildlife Trusts’
Adam Cormack fi tted a bee brick to his house. Six months later he found several bees in residence. Adam shared his fi nd on Twitter and more than 46,000 people ‘liked’ his tweet. Individual actions like this are key to creating a wilder future.
A red mason bee (an excellent fruit tree pollinator) investigates a brick
Natural World 35
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