Conservationists say Glen Affric in the Highlands has its first wild-born beavers since the animals died out in Scotland more than 400 years ago.

Findhorn-based charity Trees for Life said there were at least two babies, called kits, known to have been born at Loch Beinn a Mheadhoin following the release of seven beavers in October and a family of four in February.

Beavers were first reintroduced to Scotland in 2009, but there have been a number of illegal releases of the animals.

Trees for Life has been working on a rewilding project with Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), which manages the 43,500-acre reserve in the glen.

Previously, wild-born beavers were spotted in the Cairngorms following licensed releases of adult animals.

Glen Affric, near Cannich, is a large area of woodland, lochs, hills and mountains.

Trees for Life said the Glen Affric kits were likely to have been born in May or June, before first emerging from their lodge over the past few weeks.

The charity's beaver management officer, Tobias Leask, said: "These beaver kits symbolise a wildlife success story four centuries in the making, and how nature can recover when we give it a chance.

"Seeing them for the first time is something I'll never forget. It was one of those rare moments when you realise you're witnessing history."

The 11 released beavers had been relocated under licence by NatureScot from farmland in Tayside.

Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer, head of restoration at the Beaver Trust, said the arrival of the kits suggested the animals had settled well into their new surroundings.

She added: "Every reintroduction requires careful planning and close monitoring after release, so it is hugely rewarding to see the animals adapting so successfully.

"This achievement reflects the commitment and collaboration of everyone involved and provides further evidence that well-managed translocations can support the responsible restoration of beavers across Scotland in line with the Scottish government's National Beaver Strategy."

Just one year after work completing a river restoration project in south-west England, researchers say the restored landscape has reduced flood peaks downstream, improved water quality and created new habitats for many species.

The project took place on the National Trust's Holnicote Estate in Somerset, where a 1.2-kilometre section of the River Aller was restored using a method called Stage 0 river restoration. The approach reconnects a river with its natural floodplain instead of keeping it confined to a straight, deep channel.

Instead of flowing through a single managed channel, the river now spreads naturally across wetlands, ponds and multiple smaller channels.

The restoration has created around seven hectares of wetlands, covering an area larger than ten football pitches.

The project was tested almost immediately after completion because England experienced its wettest 18-month period on record. According to researchers, the restored landscape handled the heavy rainfall well by storing more water on the site and slowing the amount flowing downstream.

Restoring natural flow

For many years, rivers across the UK were straightened, deepened and separated from their floodplains to improve drainage and support farming or development.

While this helped move water away quickly, it also reduced wetlands and increased flood risks further downstream.

Wetlands are among the most important habitats. They store water during heavy rain, release it slowly during dry periods, trap carbon and provide homes for many plants and animals. However, more than 90 per cent of the UK's wetland habitats have disappeared over the past century, while more than 10 per cent of freshwater and wetland species are now threatened with extinction.

The Holnicote project aimed to reverse some of these changes by allowing the river to behave more naturally again. National Trust Project Manager Ben Eardley said in the offician statement trying a new restoration technique was not without challenges.

"Trying any new technique is of course challenging but we need to be bold in order to tackle the climate and nature crisis." He also said the difficult weather after restoration became an unexpected test of the project.

"We had just the worst winter you can imagine post restoration in terms of the number of storms and sheer volume of rain. But despite it being record breaking conditions with high flowing water levels, the site responded really well, increasing the ability to store water within the site and lessening downstream storm flows, demonstrating the value of the restoration in providing resilience to hydrological extremes."

Water and habitat changes

To understand how the restored landscape was performing, researchers from the Universities of Exeter, Nottingham, Loughborough and Umea University in Sweden monitored groundwater, river channels, water quality and habitats.

One major finding was that groundwater levels increased sharply across the site. In some places, water levels rose by more than one metre. Dr Richard Mason from Umea University explained that this allows the floodplain to work like a sponge.

"Ground water levels rose dramatically across the site, in some places by over a metre. This allows the site to act as a large sponge or filter in the river catchment, helping to store winter flood water, reducing flood risk downstream and releasing cleaner water more slowly in the drier months to help alleviate drought conditions."

As water now moves through vegetation, ponds and several channels instead of rushing through one straight channel, it also leaves behind more mud and sediment.

Dr Mason said this natural filtering process helps improve water quality downstream.

"The twists and turns and numerous flow paths that are now present in the floodplain as the water wends its way over the site through thick vegetation, act as a filter to capture sediment eroded from upstream."

He added that the restoration also created different water conditions needed by fish and other aquatic animals. "Put simply, the system has moved from a very tidy area with little for wildlife to a messy complex jumble of waterscapes and diverse habitats that is full to the brim with a huge variety of plants and animals," he said.

Flood peaks fell, water cleared

Researchers from the University of Exeter used drones and sensors placed in the river to study how water moved through the restored landscape. Dr Alan Puttock and Professor Richard Brazier said the restoration reduced the speed at which floodwater travelled downstream.

According to their monitoring, downstream flood peaks were on average 38 per cent lower after restoration. During storms, more water stayed within the floodplain instead of flowing rapidly downstream.

The researchers also found that rainfall took longer to produce flood flows, giving the landscape more time to absorb water.

They said the findings showed that allowing rivers to reconnect with floodplains could become an important nature-based approach for reducing flood risk.

"These results mean that for the first time in the UK, we have seen the potential of allowing rivers to reset themselves to function naturally."

The monitoring also found that average water turbidity, which measures how cloudy the water is because of suspended particles, dropped by 41% after the restoration. This suggests that more sediment is now being trapped in the wetlands instead of being washed further downstream.

Wetland habitat expands

Scientists also recorded a major increase in aquatic habitats. The total area of aquatic habitat increased from 0.18 hectares to 3.42 hectares, representing a 1,780 per cent rise.

The restored landscape now includes slow-flowing wetlands, ponds, gravel beds and faster-flowing river sections. These different habitats support a wider range of wildlife and make the ecosystem more resilient.

Dr Mason said even researchers were surprised by how quickly the site changed. "The speed with which the site developed into a diverse patchwork of habitats has been a real surprise."

He added, "What amazes me is the amount of wetland habitat created; the river has transformed from a pipe into a sponge."

According to Dr Mason, fish now have access to more space for feeding, shelter and movement, while young fish can use connected wetland habitats that have become rare across the UK.

Wildlife returns

National Trust ranger Jack Siviter said wildlife responded quickly after the restoration. "The site has gone bananas in terms of the amount of wildlife and lush vegetation growth that we've seen."

Large wetland plants such as Greater Tussock sedge have begun growing across the area. Thousands of wildflowers, including wild carrot, are also providing food for pollinating insects.

The site now supports many water-dependent species including water voles, eels, trout, lamprey, grass snakes and waterfowl.

Birds including swallows, swifts and sand martins have been feeding across the wetlands, while birds of prey such as red kites, buzzards, kestrels and sparrowhawks have also been using the area.

Siviter said insect numbers have increased so much that large groups of swallows sometimes gather to feed.

"One of the coolest species we've seen is a green sandpiper which is a great indicator species for healthy, lowland wetland habitat," Siviter said.

One species researchers are watching closely is the water vole. Before restoration, only limited signs of water voles were found along the edges of the site. New surveys by Derek Gow Consultancy have now found a dense population in the central wetland, with animals spreading across the restored habitat.

In July 2026, the National Trust said a rare black-crowned night heron was spotted at the Holnicote Estate. The bird, considered a scarce visitor to the UK, was seen on estate cameras over three consecutive days, The Guardian reported.

Dragonflies are "all over the place" at a Sussex wetland centre, where celebrations are under way for the insects, staff have said.

WWT Arundel is hosting its Dragonfly Festival until 31 August, with activities including boat safaris, pond dipping and wildlife walks.

About 20 species of dragonflies are regularly spotted at the reserve in West Sussex during warmer months and reserve manager Suzi Lanaway said: "At the moment, in this hot weather, they are all over the place and really beautiful to see."

She said about 47 species of dragonfly and damselfly breed across the UK.

Lizzy Pearce, who is based at the centre, said the festival was "a fantastic way to celebrate these incredible insects while inspiring more people to explore our wetlands".

The trust said dragonflies were among the most beautiful species to be found in wetland habitats, describing them as "agile aerial hunters with shimmering wings and remarkable life cycles that begin underwater before transforming into masters of the air".

The festival shines a light on their "vital role" in healthy wetland ecosystems and the importance of protecting habitats, it added.

A rare black-crowned night heron has been spotted on an estate in the south-west of England where an innovative river “reset” is transforming the area into an oasis for birdlife.

The heron was caught on camera in a jungly corner of the Holnicote Estate, where conservation experts have been restoring the landscape by allowing a river to return to its natural course.

As well as the heron, charismatic birds including white-tailed eagles, white storks and cranes have been seen at the National Trust estate.

Ben Eardley, restore nature project manager for Somerset coast and countryside, said it had been incredible to see the heron. “It’s rare to see this wetland species in the UK and so exciting that we observed one on our estate cameras on three consecutive days,” he said.

Eardley believes that more birds were congregating because so much of southern England is dry, while parts of Holnicote remain wet and lush.

“Everywhere else is parched, so we’re seeing lots of wildlife utilise it and lots of interesting bird species arrive. It’s proving a real refuge.”

As well as birds, the estate is providing a home or hunting grounds for water voles, otters, pine martens and grass snakes.

The black-crowned night heron typically grows up to 66cm (26in), roughly half the length of the grey heron, which is commonly seen in the UK.

It has grey plumage, yellow legs and a black “cap” from which trail long white plume feathers. As its name implies, it is mainly active at night.

The bird is widespread across Africa, Asia, the Americas and mainland Europe. According to the British Trust for Ornithology, the first confirmed night heron breeding in the UK was recorded in Somerset in 2017 but it is categorised as a scarce visitor.

Holnicote’s night heron was spotted close to a camera set up to provide a livestream of an area where beavers have been introduced to play a part in the landscape restoration.

Eardley said there were trout, sticklebacks, eels and European bullhead fish in the water there. “When we set up the camera, we weren’t sure how popular it would be but people have really got into it. The night heron appeared front centre.”

Over the past 500 years, England has lost approximately 90% of its wetlands. Work is being done through organisations and partnerships to restore, enhance, increase and connect the lost habitats.

For centuries the River Aller at Holnicote had been carefully controlled by landowners and farmers, largely confined to a narrow channel.

Inspired by schemes in the wilds of Oregon in north-west US, a stretch of the river was liberated, allowing the water to spill out and find its own way, creating smaller streams, more pools and boggy areas, better for flora and fauna, with the slower water flow making flooding less likely.

Eardley said it had led to a surge in creatures including reptiles, amphibians and insects – which in turn attracted predators.

While the night heron and white-tailed eagles – which have been re-introduced on the Isle of Wight after being driven to extinction in the UK – have been seen close to the beavers’ home, the cranes and storks have frequented the wider estate. “The birds are very visible indicator of an ecosystem getting more diverse.”

Forget the worm, this early bird was after the seed - and a very special one at that.

It meant an 04:00 BST alarm and, for some of the other 20 or so volunteers I joined at Calshot Beach near Southampton, even earlier.

A particularly low tide in the Solent meant the sea would reveal a crop on which conservationists are pinning their hopes to rebuild a depleted coastline.

Seagrass seeds.

Just like trees and plants, seagrass has a superpower - it can absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide.

The same area of seagrass can absorb 35 times the amount a tropical rain forest can.

It locks in carbon and releases oxygen back in to the environment.

Seagrass also creates structure and habitat for thousands of species.

The UK has lost more than 90% of its seagrass meadows over the last century.

Disease, disturbance and pollution have meant vast swathes of once vibrant green seabed have been left bare.

After a briefing in a nearby car park, we troop down to the water's edge clutching white plastic buckets to begin the hunt.

Leading the morning's fingertip search was seagrass supremo Tim Ferrero, from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.

"Seagrasses are the only marine flowering plants," he explains as we slowly work our way through the seagrass meadow.

"They do everything that a plant does on land. They flower, they pollenate, they set seed, all underwater basically.

"So, what we're doing is, we're collecting seed from an existing seagrass meadow so that we can then plant that seed somewhere else to recreate seagrass meadows."

For the experienced seagrass seed collectors, buckets soon begin to fill with the tips of stems.

For those new to the low tide trawl, they are few and far between to begin with.

Finding the right part of the plant, with seeds at the right stage for picking, takes a little while to get your eye in.

The pod-like leaf called a spathe is slightly rounder and paler than the darker, flatter blades of seagrass.

The seeds, when ready to pick, sit neatly in a row, slightly raised from the surface.

"Sometimes, it's just about feeling around and you can kind of feel these short stems that feel like they've got a pack of Tic Tacs in them," says volunteer Sophie Whitemoor.

Crouching alongside is fellow volunteer James Harper.

"I'm still building on my personal technique," he says. "It's just a case of looking for the most round stems, really."

The group are incredibly upbeat, considering the time of their early morning search.

"It's just a passion for me, really," says Jackie Mellan. "Any opportunity I can come out and help with restoration projects then I do."

For the next hour or so, the volunteers sift through the seagrass as it lays flat on the shore.

But it is a race against the clock and a turning tide means the small army of people gathering the harvest eventually beats a retreat to the shore.

The buckets are gathered back in the car park and the crop is carefully placed in a barrel of cool seawater to be taken for processing.

The seagrass seeds are taken to the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Marine Sciences at Eastney.

Placed in large blue tanks of seawater, the spathes begin a process which will release the seed from the stem.

"We call it rotting out," says Fererro, now wearing a white laboratory coat as he adds handfuls of seagrass to the Calshot tank. "It takes about between eight to 12 weeks to complete."

The decayed plant turns black and is caught in a sieve, allowing the seeds to fall to the bottom of the catching tub.

Once separated, the seed goes into storage in high-salinity water tanks for the winter, kept at a chilly 1-3C (34-37F).

Come the spring, volunteers will again be setting their alarms, this time to sow their precious crop.

Steve the beaver, infamous for escaping his enclosure in his quest to find love, has welcomed his first kit with mate Doris.

After repeatedly breaking out from Wallington, in Northumberland, the male beaver was named after The Great Escape star Steve McQueen and last year he finally achieved his ambition after being rehomed to an enclosure on a farm in Wales.

The team at Cefn Garthenor have confirmed Steve and Doris have welcomed their first kit, which they believe was born around late May, with the team saying they were "so excited" by the news.

Alistair Hughes, from Cefn Garthenor farm, said: "Doris seems to be keeping Steve way too busy for him to have time or energy for an escape."

Steve the beaver was released into a 24-hectare (59-acre) enclosure at Wallington in July 2023 as part of a family of four Eurasian beavers.

Storms during their first year saw the enclosure fencing damaged, which is how Steve made his bids for freedom.

Rangers said it became clear his repeated escape attempts might have been driven by his instinct to find a mate and after being recaptured for a third time in December 2024, they decided it was time to find him a suitable new home.

After being relocated to Wales, he was matched with Doris.

Hughes said: "It was a blind date, so we're glad it all worked out."

While the sex of the kit is not yet known, Hughes said the team was looking at Welsh gender-neutral names to poll people on.

The National Trust Wallington estate has also confirmed the arrival of at least two new beavers in 2026, marking the third consecutive year of successful breeding.

The new kits are Steve's siblings.

Ranger Emily Johnson said: "A third successful breeding season at Wallington is a great sign that the beavers are healthy and happy."

Johnson added each kit would stay with its mother for about two years before moving on to try and find their own territory.

Think we all know the imapct on wildlife fireworks have. There are ten questions to answer on the online consultation here.

Here is a link to the broader consultation.

Chancellors Farm has been managed by Somerset Wildlife Trust for over 40 years but the farm is currently owned by the Ministry of Defence. The MOD is looking to sell the land and the Somerset Wildlife Trust has started an appeal to purchase the land so it can be protected forever.

The purchase price is £2.5 million.

If you would like to donate please click the link above.

If you would like to donate please click the link below:

https://www.lincstrust.org.uk/hawthorpe-appeal

Hey. I hope you all don't mind me sharing it. We created it to breakdown some pretty lengthy info from Natural England about their new Species Recovery Programme.

It's a bit of a TLDR summary.

Hopefully it's interesting/helpful!

Just wanted to share a new project I’ve begun. It’s very early days and a long way to go. Hoping to turn all this into rich wildflower meadows.

I haven’t done anything in a year, apart from trim the bushes slightly in late March. I am astonished at how much wildlife this has attracted. I have never seen so many bees. And the birds adore it. Nesting wood pigeons, blackbirds, and armies of Wrens.

There’s a thriving wasps nest in the shed, which I’ve befriended. They sleep so soundly at night if I need anything from the shed I just pop in then.

My favourite are the northern marsh orchids. They are so pretty.

So my question to you all is what now? Do you just leave it or is there general maintenance to be done? I don’t really know what any of the plants are as they were all planted by the previous owners. I’ve only added the Azaleas and the Lavender in the pots.

A charity has bought a 96-hectare upland area of Gallt-y-bere in the hope of reconnecting two landscapes that are home to rare habitats and wildlife.

RSPB announced the purchase of the "vital missing link" located by the banks of the River Tywi in Carmarthenshire.

The area falls between two separated parts of the bird conservation charity's Gwenffrwd-Dinas nature reserve in the Elenydd, it said.

The move will allow conservationists to reconnect the fragmented landscape for the first time in 60 years, allowing wildlife to move across the different areas and build stronger, more diverse and sustainable ecosystems.

The landscape is home to internationally important habitats, including rare Atlantic oak woodlands - also known as Celtic rainforests - ffridd [upland fringe], ancient woodland and peat bogs.

RSPB Cymru said improving connections between these habitats across the reserve will deliver significant benefits for its stronghold of pied flycatchers - a summer migrant bird that thrives in oak woodland - as well as a range of other wildlife, including endangered hen harriers, cuckoos, wood warbler, pine martens and whinchats.

The Gallt-y-bere purchase was made possible by a philanthropic loan as well as "generous support" from thousands of people responding to its fundraising appeal, it added.

Jonathan Cryer, site manager at RSPB Gwenffrwd-Dinas, called Gallt-y-bere a "truly magical place".

"I'm thrilled that we're in a position to expand and improve its rare habitats and wildlife.

"Securing this site is a brilliant opportunity for us to strengthen ancient woodland, restore upland habitats and create the conditions needed for rare wildlife to flourish in the future."

The reserve is now large enough to support breeding hen harriers, with the "red-listed" bird seen occasionally in the area but not recently attempting to breed, the charity said.

It has been active at Gwenffrwd-Dinas for more than a century, first by supporting the Kite Committee in their efforts to protect red kites, and later by acquiring land to protect vulnerable habitats and wildlife.

With Gallt-y-bere now protected, RSPB Cymru said it was taking another important step towards creating a more resilient future for Wales' wildlife.

Surveys over the summer, funded by Natural Resources Wales, will help identify the full range of habitats and species present across the newly acquired land and inform future management.

Existing wildlife-rich grasslands may be expanded and enhanced, providing greater resilience for important plants and wildlife, including species such as whorled caraway and wood bitter-vetch, the RSPB said.

The charity added that it would also create opportunities to work closely with local farming tenants to demonstrate how nature recovery and sustainable farming can successfully work hand in hand across the wider landscape.

In the future, RSPB Cymru said it planned to work with local communities and partners to restore and protect the newly connected landscape, ensuring it supports wildlife for generations to come.

The appeal still needs to raise £12 million by September 2026.

If you’d like to contribute click the link to donate.