Red grouse – asset ID 2104999, Louise Greenhorn (rspb-images.com) This blog is written by Jeff Knott Head of Policy and Advocacy at RSPB. As the 2023/24 gamebird shooting season is now underway, we felt it would be timely to publish a series o...

The newly published State of Nature Report highlights that our nature continues to decline in the United Kingdom . On the back of our response to a call for evidence by the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, we outline the role of environmental markets in tackling these declines and securing UK nature’s future.

Todays blog is written by Sy Joshua, Senior Race Equity Specialist.   Black History Month, celebrated throughout October in the UK, is a time to honour and acknowledge the historical contributions and achievements of Black individuals and c...

It’s no secret that our rivers, lakes and estuaries are not in a good way. Government’s own data show that just 14% of them are up to scratch ecologically. Raw sewage spills get all the publicity, but even these account for just 1-in-20 of known reasons for failure.

In today's Why Policy Matters blog, Jeff Knott, RSPB Director of Policy and Advocacy, writes on the need for the political and media spotlight to be on the issues, rather than focusing on the those who are raising the flag.

Clear cutting in Rapla county, Estonia (C) Karl Adami Todays blog is written by Alex Mackaness, Senior Policy Officer. He reflects on the recent publication of the governments' Biomass Strategy and what it means for nature and the economy. Now the d...

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of supporting Hannah Bourne-Taylor in her campaign to make swift bricks mandatory in all new developments. These bricks provide cavities for swifts and other red listed species to nest in, countering the loss of these crevices in many modern buildings. But its not the important conservation message I wanted to talk about today, it’s what Hannah’s efforts might signal…

Last Wednesday, we held our breath as the big moment finally arrived: the plenary vote in the European Parliament on the EU Nature Restoration Law. Here we unpack the rollercoaster of results!

In this blog we explore the importance of acting now to safeguard nature and to keep costs down, and question where the finance will come from.

The ocean is vast. Covering more than 70% of the earth, the sheer scale of our marine environments can often boggle the mind for land based humans like us. With such huge areas, protecting areas for wildlife need to be just as large, to make sure they are effective at delivering for our threatened ocean going species.

As the RSPB's Head of Business Conservation Advice, I know that businesses have a critical role to play in protecting nature. After all, businesses operate in the natural world and their activities can have a significant impact on the environment. At the last World Economic Forum, six out of the top ten business risks were identified as environment and climate risks – so businesses can and must play a critical role in…

Yesterday, the 5th of July, a little revolution took place in our seas. Three sites, Allonby Bay, North East of Farnes Deep and Dolphin Head were officially designated as Highly Protected Marine Areas in England. This means that they now benefit from the highest level of protection in our seas, the first three sites in the UK to be under such strict governmental protection.

A potentially powerful and influential tool in a government toolbox for tackling the nature and climate emergencies is taxation. Yet there is very little discussion of how we can use this tool better. The Dasgupta Review pointed out, globally we spend up to a whopping $46 trillion per year on subsidies that damage nature but there needs to be much more consideration of how the tax system is impacting on our natural environment…

A new report from the RSPB, the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) and Friends of the Earth: A Pillar of Justice II, reveals that the number of environmental Judicial Reviews (JR) brought to the High Court has been declining for the last decade, falling from 180 cases a year at its peak to around 84 cases a year in 2022.

When the world’s climate negotiators reconvened in Bonn, Germany, for the first time since COP27 in Egypt, they had their work cut out for them. While the Sharm el Sheikh Implementation Plan agreed at COP27 included a ground-breaking deal on finance for countries on the front line of climate impacts, it made little progress on the urgent need to tackle the causes of climate change. As such, we can expect this to be a…

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a visit to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, where we’ve been working partnership with idverde to bring nature into the heart of this unlikely landscape. As great as is this project is, clearly, we need to work at ever greater scale, way beyond a single park, if we’re to turn around fortunes of nature. Working with businesses and local communities is a vital part of that. Translating…

All it not well in the UK’s uplands, its mountains, moors, hills, and valleys, are under threat. These amazing landscapes, shaped by time and the communities which call them home, are truly unique places. And whether it’s our National Parks, AONBs or wider countryside, people want to see wildlife thrive and the environment be in a better state for future generations. However, years of intensive management, especially…

The RSPB have long called for driven grouse shooting and associated management practices to be properly regulated, largely because some driven grouse shooting estates have a long history of killing birds of prey and managing land too intensively. The need to tackle the dual climate and nature emergencies have made the need for reform ever more urgent. Whilst the number of grouse moors may have declined since the early…

June is Pride month, an opportunity to celebrate the amazing contributions of members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Here at the RSPB, the mission of our RSPB Starlings network is to foster a positive, safe and understanding working and volunteering environment for LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We're working to build and enhance the RSPB's external reputation as an advocate for equality and diversity.

It’s a great truism that nature knows no borders. The artificial lines we humans draw on a map and often attach so much meaning to are utterly irrelevant to the wildlife which moves freely backwards and forwards across these imaginary divides. And yet, borders do matter to wildlife, as almost all of the laws which impact their habitats and their protections, for good or ill, are created by the nations those borders define…

Nature restoration is one of the biggest opportunities – and responsibilities – of our time. On our part of the planet, we’ve spent far too long taking nature for granted, leaving much of Europe’s nature in a sorry state. Yet we’re in a pivotal moment – with a potentially game-changing law passing through the European Parliament – to shift our approach to one of restoration and recovery!

At their best, uplands can be one of the finest examples of multi-benefit landscapes – delivering habitat for threatened nature, locking up carbon in the fight against climate change and benefiting people by improving water quality, reducing downstream flooding and of course being wild places to enjoy, whether in person or in our minds.

The RSPB co-commissioned the participatory process that led to the People’s Plan, but we are also actors with power in the system – what will we do differently, what do we think of the Plan and what do we call on others to do?

Urban nature is so important. Its easy to think the wildest bits of our wild isles are all “out there” on remote islands and far-flung spots. Since the Olympics, the park has become a major site for the local community and its visitors and includes some lovely greenspaces – critical for nature and human wellbeing.

To help limit the catastrophic spread of Avian Influenza, the RSPB is calling for an immediate moratorium on the release of captive bred gamebirds and Mallards for shooting in the UK this year. The call is for the UK and devolved governments and the shooting industry to take a precautionary approach to limit the spread of avian influenza in wild birds and reduce the risk of viral re-assortment leading to new strains of…