News

The Yorkshire Rewilding Network is running its Summer Site Visits for a third year, and it’s a very varied and exciting programme. The rewilding sites vary from wetlands to wildflower meadows, beaver ponds and country estates to community projects and urban gardens.

This year the visits run from April to September.  The next two are:

• Sunday, April 21st – Harewood Estate Family visit
• Sunday, May 19th – Leeds community land

To view the whole YRN programme on Eventbrite and to book please click here

The Wildife Society covers a recent paper in Scientific Reports where researchers found that spending time in places with a diverse range of natural features and species is associated with stronger improvements in our mental wellbeing compared to places with less diversity.

We definitely agree with this conclusion, before we even heard about this paticular study!

The Forestry England Podcast has 6 episodes up now, concluding the first series.

Each week, host Bex Lindsay visits a different Forestry England site to discover the hidden joys and wonders of wild spaces. From arts to history, wellbeing to wildlife, she’s on a quest to learn more about the nation’s forests and the people who spend time in them.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have just published their 2024 “Wild Events Guide” that runs from April through to September this year.

Brimming and buzzing with exciting places to explore across Yorkshire and stunning wildlife to discover with the YWT team. Find glimmering glow worms in Leeds, enjoy the soothing sounds of the dawn chorus in Doncaster or meet Flamborough’s colourful puffins.

Download the guide from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

The Wildlife Trusts want to hear your opinions on some of the biggest questions surrounding nature and our collective role in caring for it.

• How often do you spend time in nature, if at all?
• Is nature important to you? If so, how important?
• What, if any, roles should people, business, and government have in managing nature?

The Wildlife Trusts are running this survey to find out what people in the UK really think about nature and how we, as a society, should protect it. Results also help The Wildlife Trusts to hold the government to account over its environmental policies and priorities.

Please take the time to fill in the survey!

Members of the Church of England’s General Synod have backed a series of measures to promote biodiversity on Church land – from churchyards as havens of wildlife and plants, to the stewardship of agricultural and forestry land.

Full story via Premier Christian News: CofE Synod backs action to tackle biodiversity crisis

The Wildlife Trusts has a really great set of resources for how to help nature in your neighbourhood at the Nextdoor Nature Hub. Obviously the easiest way to help out in Molescroft is to join the Molescroft Wildlife Network, but if you’re not in Molescroft Parish you will find all kinds of useful links from how to make birdboxes, to how to develop community groups focused on nature, and see amazing stories about local action for a nature positive world.

The Forestry England blog has a lovely review of some of their conservation success stories over 2023. Ranging from beaver reintroductions to the amazing story of the saving of the Wollemi pine from extinction there’s something for everyone whether you prefer your conservation stories fluffy, feathered or spiny!

Are you a young person working, or hoping to work, in the environment sector? Or a conservation leader? The 2024 Youth in Nature Summit might be right up your street.

The 2024 youth-led Summit is organised as a collaboration between BTO’s Youth Advisory Panel, RSPB’s Youth Council, and WWF-UK’s Youth Ambassadors.

More details on the BTO website.

As we look forward to 2024 (wait, what do you mean it’s already here!?), a positive story about wildlife in Yorkshire was published by the BBC before Christmas looking back at 2023.

The “exciting sightings” are from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and include sightings of pine martens, otters and ospreys, showing that there is hope for biodiversity in Yorkshire, if we are prepared to work for it.