News

The world of bioacoustics is booming in professional ecology surveys, however it is a complex endeavour with recording devices, and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify sounds. You may have used Merlin to identify birds, if so, you’ve done some bioacoustic surveys of your own, Cornell Lab have done an amazing job of turning bioacoustics into an app that everyone can use.

The Natural History Museum is running a bioacoustics project of its own Nature Overheard: Tune in to Your Streets.

Insects are important for a healthy environment, but noise can make it hard for them to communicate with each other. They may have to change their sounds to be heard in noisy places.  

Join the NHM on the Nature Overheard survey, collecting data to better understand how road noise affect insects. Or take part in other activities to support their research while you build your own scientific skills and knowledge.

You can join the Nature Overhead survey here. Make recordings of your local streets and submit them, alongside a biodiversity survey to help researchers.

If you want to work directly with the audio recordings you can volunteer here. This effort will help build better models for bioacoustics, leading to better biodiversity data for the UK.

Are you a local business owner? Are you interested in how you can integrate natural capital to improve your ESG stance?

What: Unlocking Nature’s Assets: How natural capital can help businesses become more economically and environmentally resilient

When: 9am – 11am, Thursday 6^th June 2024

Where: Blake Conference Room, Canham Turner, University of Hull Campus, Cottingham Rd, Hull, HU6 7RX

Booking details: Humber Business Week

The aim of the event is to draw local businesses into the dialogue surrounding natural capital by demonstrating its inherent benefits. We will be using the example of the Blue Green Lab and how this can be replicated elsewhere to support flood resilience, improve water quality, promote biodiversity and increase wellbeing. Dr Robert Thomas, Senior Research Fellow at the EEI, will present on the university’s research in this area, joined by speakers from the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Nature Partnership (HEY LNP), who will set the scene with local examples of natural capital as well as a broader overview of the concept itself. The presentation will then be followed by a tour of university’s Blue Green Lab which will be led by Technology Transfer Assistant, Dr Josh Johnson.

It’s No Mow May! Plantlife’s #NoMowMay is back this year.

It’s a great chance to save some money, create a feast for pollinators, tackle pollution, reduce urban heat extremes, and lock away atmospheric carbon below ground.

If you want to commit be sure to sign up to Plantlife’s initiative and register your participation.

You can also see how many people across the UK have comitted to No Mow May on this interactive map!

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.