Environment

Walk along a quiet canal or past a city bridge and the water can look peaceful. Yet in many European rivers, one small stowaway from East Asia is quietly chewing through banks, clogging pipes, and pushing native wildlife aside. The Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) is now so widespread that scientists rank it among the…

The importance of protecting nature is not up for debate. One in six species in Britain is threatened with extinction. Since 1970, more than half our flowering plants have decreased in areas where they once thrived. In the 1950s, Britain’s hedgehog population was 30m strong. Now, it is believed to be under a million. All…

On a sunny January afternoon in Bodega Bay, some 70 miles north of San Francisco, the White Abalone Culture Lab is humming with activity. It’s spawning day. Alyssa Frederick, the lab’s program director, invites me into an industrial room full of troughs and tubs of bubbling seawater. The abalone program is tucked away in the…

“Many companies ask mainly for stability. So even changing rules day after day and giving the impression that nothing is sure because you can change it is problematic,” he said. Until he beat the only challenger, far-right MEP Roman Haider, by a large margin to become chair last month, Maran was not even a member…

The Ouseburn slides glassily, reflecting clouds, as it moves towards the Tyne. These lower reaches are tidal, once used for loading coal barges, here in the industrial heart of Newcastle. From glassworks, bottleworks, potteries and flax mills, the area is now transformed into waterside cafes, bars and housing. The burn flows through a variety of…

The large tortoiseshell – an elusive and enigmatic butterfly that became extinct in Britain in the last century – is a UK resident species once again, with a flurry of early spring sightings. Britain’s list of native butterflies has increased to 60 with the return of the insect after individuals emerged from hibernation in woodlands…

Countries should look to rewild their land borders as a deterrence to invasion and build up other geographical defences to attack, Europe’s environment chief has said. Jessika Roswall, the EU’s commissioner for the environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy, said nature should be used to improve national security. “Investing in nature and using…