One of the great privileges of working at the RSPB is that we can bring together colleagues from different disciplines to tackle environmental issues from high level policy to practical realities on the ground.

Take biofuels, for example. At first sight a neat idea, extracting fuel from growing plants to replace some of our dependence on fossil fuels. Dig only a little deeper and the veneer of green energy quickly vanishes…

Here’s the RSPB’s reaction to the announcement of the Aviation Connectivity Commission – a topic, I have no doubt, that this blog will return to regularly.

Government has announced the creation of an independent Aviation Connectivity Commission in a ministerial statement issued today [Friday 7 September, 2012].

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s Director of Conservation, said, “An independent commission to…

Our views on the reforms to planning in England and Wales announced recently can be found on Martin Harper’s blog ... here’s the Housing and Growth announcement in full.  The economic pressures are building but the detail of the reforms reveal that wins in the English National Planning Policy Framework have not been lost and the importance of local plans is retained.

But the price of protecting our natural…

Tanzania’s Lake Natron is one of the world’s wildlife sites that seems to have been in our consciousness for decades. With it’s hordes of lesser flamingos, it has been the star of wildlife programs and threats to its future as a top wildlife site have never been far away.

Lake Natron has featured in these posts before – here’s one to give some background, and there’s further background…

Visitors to the BirdFair at Rutland will be aware that the theme for this year was the East Asia Australasian Flyway.  This flyway includes a suite of breeding, migration and wintering sites that are particularly important for wading birds across a network of 22 countries.  Unfortunately the fast rate of development in many of these countries is having a devastating effect on sites that are important for several endangered…

The future of England’s Green Belts has been in the news again. Our colleagues over at the Campaign to Protect Rural England have published a map of Green Belts under threat. Housing minister Grant Shapps has re-iterated the Government’s commitment to protect the Green Belt.

Green Belt is a long-established and popular policy, but what is it for?

It’s important to understand that Green Belt is a planning…

This blog turns three in September – I’ve had a lot of help and we’ve visited places from Scotland to Africa linked by the common themes of their invaluable role in protecting our natural world and the threats they face driven, inevitably, by the economics of development. We’ve tracked the fate of the planning system in England – a story that is far from complete; and we’ve celebrated successes where places have been…

A few weeks ago Jack and I visited Blakeney Point to see the seals – turns out our trip was auspiciously timed as this year turns out to be the centenary of the National Trust’s purchase of this famous sandy peninsula.

The anniversary prompted Patrick Barkham to explore the importance of nature reserves in an article in the Guardian – a subject I covered in this blog earlier in the month. 

And yes they…

I’m on my summer holidays – and taking some time to connect with nature (we’re building a pond).

I hope you get a chance to get out over the bank holiday – why not visit one of our RSPB nature reserves?

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So, ministers have been ordered to “think the unthinkable” in efforts to stimulate the economy back to life and pull Britain out of its double-dip recession. That is, according to the Daily Telegraph.

I come back from holiday and apparently further planning reform is back on the agenda, including relaxation of the green belt and other pro-growth measures. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve just been through…

I took Jack to see the seals at Blakeney point last week.  It’s a right of passage. By coincidence I came across this post on our Nature Notes blog – another one to add to your regular reads I would say – this one is all about seals.

Seals at Blakeney Point - trip by Beans Boats - photo Andre Farrar

We also called in at Titchwell – with 20 spoonbills a particular highlight supported by a cast of wading…

In my last post I was featuring the big stuff – the elite of the conservation world. The protected areas that have recognition at the international scale ... they are vital to sustaining the richness of life on earth – but they are the whole story.

Today we’ve published the results of our RSPB Make Your Nature Count survey – one of the best ways of connecting with the wildlife if your special place – your…

A couple of years ago purple herons nested successfully at our RSPB Dungeness Nature reserve. As luck would have it, I was visiting the reserve (for a meeting) just as the pair started prospecting for their nest site.  Sadly they haven’t repeated their success of 2010 – yet, but it did get me thinking that it was lucky they had picked our nature reserve.

But luck was only part of it – the reed beds they called…

Here at the RSPB we are very proud of our role in the global alliance BirdLife International. Clearly our primary mission is here in the UK but we’ve always recognised the threats to birds, indeed all of nature, aren’t limited by national boundaries. Conservation is an international issue.

BirdLife International is celebrating its 20^th anniversary (its predecessor the International Council for Bird Preservation…

Sat in an office in the middle of Bedfordshire, I often miss the coast.  I was reminded of two of my favourite coastal locations recently as they hosted visits by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).  They were our RSPB Marshside nature reserve near Southport and RSPB Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast.

Both are protected by law because they are amongst Europe’s most important places for wildlife.  Bempton…

[Written by Mark Day, Head of Partner Development Unit - Europe, Middle East and Central Asia - and it's his FIRST blog!]

It was not even 10 o'clock and the back of my neck was toasting in the intense sun already on the short walk from the car.

Turning the corner away from the sea, I walked down the road, skirting an imposing 2 metre plus high chain link fence topped with two rusty barbed wire strands until I…

Today’s blog title misquotes John Keats from his Ode to a Nightingale. This year was the BTO’s National Nightingale survey – a periodic stock-take of the light-winged Dryad of the trees.

But sadly over recent decades the music of nightingales has fled from much of our verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.

OK, enough of the Keats.

I took on a tetrad – a word, of which, I suspect Keats was unaware…

Since the hoo-ha over the Government’s new planning policy, there seems to be a new level of interest in how the planning system can deliver for nature.

Now that Government has put in place much of the national framework, to general applause, the spotlight turns to England’s 354 local planning authorities, who have the day-to-day business of making plans and deciding planning applications.

We saw that interest…

The first document has just landed and is currently having its details unpacked.

To readers of this blog the many and various proposals to build large airports in the Thames estuary have been regularly covered, here's some background.

Sufficient it to say that we think this is a very bad and dangerous idea – for safe flying, for local communities, for the environment of the Thames estuary and for its wildlife.…

The Independent Panel on Forestry has published its final report – crucial advice to Government on an issue that the public campaign of 2011 brought to boiling point.

The report should now form the basis of a constructive engagement to take the recommendations forward.  One thing is for sure – there’s no chance that this report will be left to gather dust, the activism of last year is still there and will, I have…

This just in from José Tavares who is RSPB's international partner development officer for Portugal - as you can guess from the headline, there's a step he is asking you to take - here's the link (it's also at the bottom of the post). Perhaps Salgados is somewhere you have visited? Let us know your experiences. To leave a comment, simply register with RSPB Community by clicking on the link at the top…

(Posted on behalf of Jessica Chappell, who is a volunteer RSPB Intern undertaking organisation development support for SOR (Romanian BirdLife Partner)

After surviving the sub-zero temperatures (-20 ^oC anyone?!) and constant snowfall that is eastern European winter, I’d paid my dues, and it was fieldwork time!  I’d arrived in Romania the previous September, trading in paid RSPB employment for a voluntary internship…

(Posted on behalf of Geoff Welch - International Management Plans Adviser.  Geoff works in the RSPB's Partner Development Unit (Africa, Asia and UK Overseas Territories)

 Dalverzin - 9-10 June

The third pilot site for the project is Dalverzin State Hunting Farm, situated 120 km south of Tashkent close to the border with Tajikistan.  Unlike the other two sites, it already has a degree of protection.  The main habitat…

(Posted on behalf of Geoff Welch - International Management Plans Adviser.  Geoff works in the RSPB's Partner Development Unit (Africa, Asia and UK Overseas Territories)

Amankutan - 6-7 June

The difference between Ayakaghitma and Amankutan couldn’t have been more marked!  Ayakaghitma was hot and dry, Amankutan was mountains, greenery and an exceedingly pleasant temperature.  Situated at over 1,000 m there were…

(Posted on behalf of Geoff Welch - International Management Plans Adviser.  Geoff works in the RSPB's Partner Development Unit (Africa, Asia and UK Overseas Territories)

And so I have come to Uzbekistan, because....

For most people, Uzbekistan summons up images of camel caravans, the Silk Road and the famous cities of Bukhara and Samarkand but it is also an important country for birds and biodiversity.  Fifty-one…