Nothing heralds the arrival of spring quite like Bluebells, when the unfurling of violet carpets across our woodlands at last signals the end of winter’s grip. With peak Bluebell season tending to land – weather dependent – between April to May, this year’s National Walking Month (May 1-31) presents the ideal incentive to head into the great outdoors and seek this spectacle out. 

The RSPB have cherry-picked some of the best Bluebell walks to enjoy across their reserve network, alongside refreshment suggestions for that well-earned snack or lunch at the end (or even the beginning!) of your Bluebell stroll.  

Whether you’re looking to find a cost-effective way to fill your outdoor space with colour, upgrade your toolkit on a budget, or simply be a bit more economical with your planting, Dobbies Garden Centres has outlined its tips on how you can get set for spring for less.

Students from Rocky Hill, Connecticut, will have the chance to connect with NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Don Pettit as they answer prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related questions from aboard the International Space Station.

The event for kindergarten through 12th grade students will be hosted at Rocky Hill Library in Rocky Hill, near Hartford, Connecticut.

NASA has selected SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, to provide the launch service for the agency’s Pandora mission, which will study at least 20 known exoplanets and their host stars to find out how changes in stars affect our observations of exoplanet atmospheres.

During its one-year primary mission, Pandora will observe each exoplanet 10 times, observing for 24 hours each visit. It will capture critical data about the planet and its host star during transits, an event where a planet crosses in front of the star it orbits.

As we approach Valentine’s Day and the nations’ love birds are busy making amorous plans, the celebrated Saint’s day also marks the start of National Nest Box Week.

Mid-February is also when many wild birds start to pair up and seek out suitable sites for the imminent breeding season, so now is a great time to put up new nest boxes, or spruce up your old ones, says the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

A project is underway to amplify nature’s chorus across Purbeck in Dorset by restoring areas of wood pasture, a prime habitat for Britain’s much-loved, native songbirds.

The National Trust, which cares for around 3,500ha (over 8,600 acres) of land across Purbeck, is supporting its tenant farmers to plant 60,000 trees and shrubs over the next six years, creating 380ha (940 acres) of new wood pasture.

One hundred hectares of new habitat for rare and threatened wildlife is to be created at RSPB Wallasea Island reserve in Rochford, Essex, the site of Europe’s largest coastal habitat restoration project.

Published today by the RSPB a new report shows that in just four years the Orkney Native Wildlife Project is delivering on its mission to protect nationally important bird and small mammal communities found on the Orkney Islands. This ambitious partnership project is the largest stoat removal on an inhabited landscape anywhere in the world, and its success is critical to protecting Orkney’s wildlife. 

The latest report by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP), the independent body that monitors the populations of the UK’s rarest breeding birds, reveals that 108 species and races of rare native birds were reported breeding, or attempting to breed, in the UK in 2022.

This is the second-highest total since the Panel began reporting in 1973, and suggests a continuation of the increasing trend in the number of rare breeding bird species in the UK, largely driven by the arrival of colonising species.

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is excited to announce the launch of Cudyll Cymru, a brand-new citizen science project aimed at enhancing our understanding of birds of prey across Wales.

The BTO is looking for volunteers from today - find out everything you need to know, and how to sign up here.

Mangrove Action Project – a global charity dedicated to promoting science-based training to conserve and protect mangroves – has launched their 10th Mangrove Photography Awards. The competition invites photographers of all ages and levels to submit images that showcase the beauty, diversity and fragility of mangrove forests worldwide. 

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Kuenzang Dorji from Bhutan with a Whitley Award for his work to protect Endangered Gee’s golden langur in the East Himalayas and his solutions for local farmers whose crops the primates are targeting as climate change drives a shift in their behaviour.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Raju Acharya from Nepal with a Whitley Award to bolster protection for owls in central Nepal after spearheading a government-backed ten-year plan to safeguard the birds which had been overlooked from conservation efforts.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Aristide Kamla from Cameroon with a Whitley Award for his landmark work to restore the habitat of the African manatee in Lake Ossa. The marine scientist has become the country’s foremost specialist in the mammal, addressing threats to its freshwater habitat from rapidly expanding invasive species and pollution.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Naomi Longa from Papua New Guinea to expand her work to monitor and manage coral reefs in the biodiversity hotspot of Kimbe Bay and to further extend her female-driven marine conservation model in local waters of the Coral Triangle, home to 76 percent of the world’s coral reef species.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Fernanda Abra from Brazil with a Whitley Award for her pioneering work to build and monitor low-cost canopy bridges over Highway BR-174 in the Amazon rainforest in a project she plans to scale for widespread adoption to protect tree-dwelling mammals from road impacts.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Leroy Ignacio from Guyana with a Whitley Award for galvanising one of the country’s first Indigenous-led conservation movements and to strengthen protection for the Red Siskin, a small Endangered finch which has become a flagship species for conservation in the rapidly developing rainforest nation.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Dr Purnima Devi Barman from India with the 2024 Whitley Gold Award for her work to save the Greater Adjutant Stork – known locally as Hargila - whose numbers have quadrupled in Assam to more than 1,800 thanks to a dynamic campaign she masterminded and which she is expanding to include 20,000 women.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising seven outstanding conservationists with 2024 Whitley Awards for leading their communities in saving some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems and for their innovative solutions to the threats to nature in India, Brazil, Bhutan, Papua New Guinea, Guyana, Cameroon and Nepal.

Nothing heralds the arrival of spring quite like Bluebells, when the unfurling of violet carpets across our woodlands at last signals the end of winter’s grip. With peak Bluebell season tending to land – weather dependent – between April to May, this year’s National Walking Month (May 1-31) presents the ideal incentive to head into the great outdoors and seek this spectacle out. 

The RSPB have cherry-picked some of the best Bluebell walks to enjoy across their reserve network, alongside refreshment suggestions for that well-earned snack or lunch at the end (or even the beginning!) of your Bluebell stroll.  

As we approach Valentine’s Day and the nations’ love birds are busy making amorous plans, the celebrated Saint’s day also marks the start of National Nest Box Week.

Mid-February is also when many wild birds start to pair up and seek out suitable sites for the imminent breeding season, so now is a great time to put up new nest boxes, or spruce up your old ones, says the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

A project is underway to amplify nature’s chorus across Purbeck in Dorset by restoring areas of wood pasture, a prime habitat for Britain’s much-loved, native songbirds.

The National Trust, which cares for around 3,500ha (over 8,600 acres) of land across Purbeck, is supporting its tenant farmers to plant 60,000 trees and shrubs over the next six years, creating 380ha (940 acres) of new wood pasture.

One hundred hectares of new habitat for rare and threatened wildlife is to be created at RSPB Wallasea Island reserve in Rochford, Essex, the site of Europe’s largest coastal habitat restoration project.

Published today by the RSPB a new report shows that in just four years the Orkney Native Wildlife Project is delivering on its mission to protect nationally important bird and small mammal communities found on the Orkney Islands. This ambitious partnership project is the largest stoat removal on an inhabited landscape anywhere in the world, and its success is critical to protecting Orkney’s wildlife. 

The latest report by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP), the independent body that monitors the populations of the UK’s rarest breeding birds, reveals that 108 species and races of rare native birds were reported breeding, or attempting to breed, in the UK in 2022.

This is the second-highest total since the Panel began reporting in 1973, and suggests a continuation of the increasing trend in the number of rare breeding bird species in the UK, largely driven by the arrival of colonising species.

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is excited to announce the launch of Cudyll Cymru, a brand-new citizen science project aimed at enhancing our understanding of birds of prey across Wales.

The BTO is looking for volunteers from today - find out everything you need to know, and how to sign up here.

Usually flowering from late March to early May, this year’s mild winter and spring means we may well see them early and Forestry England expects a bumper bluebell display in the nation’s forests.

 Surrounding yourself with the delicate scent and sea of blue colour is a must-do spring nature experience so pack your picnic and head to one of Forestry England’s recommended list of bluebell woods.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Kuenzang Dorji from Bhutan with a Whitley Award for his work to protect Endangered Gee’s golden langur in the East Himalayas and his solutions for local farmers whose crops the primates are targeting as climate change drives a shift in their behaviour.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Raju Acharya from Nepal with a Whitley Award to bolster protection for owls in central Nepal after spearheading a government-backed ten-year plan to safeguard the birds which had been overlooked from conservation efforts.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Aristide Kamla from Cameroon with a Whitley Award for his landmark work to restore the habitat of the African manatee in Lake Ossa. The marine scientist has become the country’s foremost specialist in the mammal, addressing threats to its freshwater habitat from rapidly expanding invasive species and pollution.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Naomi Longa from Papua New Guinea to expand her work to monitor and manage coral reefs in the biodiversity hotspot of Kimbe Bay and to further extend her female-driven marine conservation model in local waters of the Coral Triangle, home to 76 percent of the world’s coral reef species.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Fernanda Abra from Brazil with a Whitley Award for her pioneering work to build and monitor low-cost canopy bridges over Highway BR-174 in the Amazon rainforest in a project she plans to scale for widespread adoption to protect tree-dwelling mammals from road impacts.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Leroy Ignacio from Guyana with a Whitley Award for galvanising one of the country’s first Indigenous-led conservation movements and to strengthen protection for the Red Siskin, a small Endangered finch which has become a flagship species for conservation in the rapidly developing rainforest nation.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising Dr Purnima Devi Barman from India with the 2024 Whitley Gold Award for her work to save the Greater Adjutant Stork – known locally as Hargila - whose numbers have quadrupled in Assam to more than 1,800 thanks to a dynamic campaign she masterminded and which she is expanding to include 20,000 women.

UK charity the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) is recognising seven outstanding conservationists with 2024 Whitley Awards for leading their communities in saving some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems and for their innovative solutions to the threats to nature in India, Brazil, Bhutan, Papua New Guinea, Guyana, Cameroon and Nepal.