Nature Recovery

A Rare Fungi Discovery at Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve: The First UK Sighting of the Blue-Based Earthtongue

Yew tree at Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve

By Liz Frost, frequent visitor and fungi specialist, with Rachel Guy, Kingley Vale NNR Reserve Manager In mid-December 2025, amateur fungi enthusiast Liz Frost made an extraordinary discovery at Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve in West Sussex — spotting a …

The First Five‑Year Evaluations of Strategic Licensing for Great Crested Newts

Close-up of a male great crested newt (Triturus cristatus)

The first ever five-year evaluations of strategic licensing for great crested newts have just been published. This blog, written with NatureSpace Partnership, explores the successes so far and shows that the schemes are creating high‑quality habitat for great crested newts, …

Landmark for Nature recovery receives the royal seal of approval

Secretary of State, Emma Reynolds, Tony Juniper and His Majesty, King Charles III at the Seven Sisters National Nature Reserve

By Tony Juniper CBE, Chair of Natural England Nature recovery has taken a major step forward this week with the unveiling of one of the country’s most important National Nature Reserves by a long-standing champion of the natural world – His …

Defining Success for Wildlife: What Does "Thriving" Really Mean?

Pine Marten. Credit: Robert Cruikshanks

How do we know when a species is truly thriving, rather than just surviving? This is the question Natural England has been working to answer. We've now published new definitions that set out exactly what success looks like for four …

Beaver Update: Two new licensed wild release projects, more to follow!

image of beaver on grass

By Stuart Otway – Principal Officer, Complex Licensing; Delphine Pouget - Principal Officer, Species Recovery & Reintroductions; Giles Wagstaff - Senior Officer, Complex Licensing; Amy Radford – Senior Officer, Species Recovery & Reintroductions Two newly licensed beaver projects will very …

Natural England’s Chief Scientist reflects on the Science, Evidence and Analysis for nature recovery

By Professor Sallie Bailey, FICFOR, BES On 4 December, the Royal Armouries in Leeds hosted some leading voices in nature recovery. Thought leaders and innovators from environmental NGOs, academia, finance, infrastructure and local government joined Natural England at our Science, …

Landscape Recovery and growth: building the foundations for critical nature infrastructure 

Ock-and-Thames-Landscape-Recovery-Project.-Credit-Freshwater-Habitats-Trust.jpg

By Chris Davis, Natural England’s Deputy Director for Landscape Recovery and Schemes Development At a time when the UK is facing serious environmental challenges such as climate change and loss of wildlife, restoring and protecting our natural capital is one …

Species Recovery Programme - Call for Ideas Opportunity

By Karen Shelley-Jones - Senior Officer – Funding and Grant Scheme Management and Luke Gill - Senior Officer - Species Recovery Programme Earlier this month, we launched a new call seeking ambitious new ideas for projects aimed at recovering England’s …

New Weed Control Handbook Published: A Smarter, Greener Approach to Vegetation Management

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Landscape, Natural England, Nature, Nature Recovery, Weed Control
Himalayan balsam on a field edge. Natural England

By Patrick Shannon-Hughes, Environmental Quality for Nature Senior Officer (Agri Chemicals) We’re pleased to release the updated Weed Control Handbook: Guidance for Herbicide Use on Nature Conservation Sites - a long-awaited refresh of the 2002 Herbicide Handbook. This new edition …

Nature Recovery Projects – next steps for growing collaborative action that drives nature recovery

Acting for nature recovery at scale Defra and Natural England invested £7.4 million to initiate twelve landscape-scale Nature Recovery Projects (NRPs) across the country, over the three years of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2022/23-2024/25. Covering over 319,480ha, these projects were …