A wild botanic garden in West Sussex is due to display a series of sculptures by Henry Moore, one of Britain's most influential artists.
Wakehurst said the four pieces would be featured alongside newly commissioned works by other contemporary artists who are part of the Henry Moore Institute.
A spokesperson for the botanic garden said the displays aimed to "continue the conversation of art and nature".
Eva Owen, programme manager at Wakehurst, said they were "delighted" to host the pieces which "evoke the themes of care, protection and conservation".
"This in turn reflects the vital work which we do at Wakehurst, including managing and researching an array of landscapes and natural habitats, as well as our Millennium Seed Bank ," she said.
Kew Gardens is also featuring a display of Moore's sculptures , which was unveiled on 9 May.
Moore created more than 1,100 sculptures in his lifetime. His famous works include the Reclining Figure series, Knife Edge Two Piece and Nuclear Energy.
Sebastiano Barassi, head of Henry Moore collections and programmes, said the artist's deep affinity with the natural world made Wakehurst and Kew "ideal settings" for his work.
"Throughout his career, he was inspired by organic forms such as bones, stones, trees, and landscape," he said.
Barassi said the sculptures at both Kew and Wakehurst aimed to offer a "fresh perspective" on Moore's legacy.
"It invites visitors to reflect on nature, humanity, and the environment at a time when those themes feel more urgent and relevant than ever," he added.
Wakehurst said the sculptures were due to be unveiled on Friday and remain in place until 27 September.
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Vetenskapsnyheter
It's been a happy ending for the eggs of an elusive bird that were just inches from the flames of a large wildfire earlier this year.
Saved by firefighters during the blaze in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, the four curlew eggs have now hatched.
The chicks will eventually be released into the wild, and conservationists are delighted.
The curlew was once a common sight, but numbers have fallen in recent years and there are now thought to be just 150 breeding pairs of curlews left in Northern Ireland.
Róisín Normanly of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) told BBC News NI that the curlew nest had been fenced off to protect it - but within 24 hours a wildfire had broken out.
At its height, 85 firefighters battled the blaze but despite challenging conditions, they were able to protect the nest.
Normanly said the fire crews "kept the fire back while we got into the eggs".
She said: "The fire was about a metre from the nest when we got there, so it was really close to the bone.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said it worked with the RSPB and the eggs were "safely removed for incubation" so they had "a chance of survival".
A host of agencies was involved in the conservation effort including the Forest Service, Conservation Detection Dogs NI and the Sliabh Beagh Curlew Conservation Trust.
Normanly explained that the eggs "were collected very carefully, wrapped up individually and packaged into a biscuit tin" to be transported to the incubation facility.
Chairman of the Sliabh Beagh Curlew Conservation Trust Dr John Cusack said the eggs were incubated for just under four weeks.
"All four [chicks] are happy and healthy and thriving and we're delighted about that," he said.
"We're going to release them and hopefully they'll do well after they are released back into the wild.
"Ideally, you want them to spend time with their parents, to be reared by their parents and learn the skills necessary. But it is still a very, v…
Swampy mangrove forests are staging a surprise comeback - which is good news for coastal communities and the climate.
The world's coastal mangrove forests, which protect millions of people from storms - and soak up vast amounts of planet-warming gases - are staging an unexpected comeback, scientists find.
For decades these swampy trees had been declining rapidly as they were cleared for fish farms and housing.
But a new study shows that since 2010 the world has been gaining more mangroves than it has been losing - driven by stronger legal protections and increased public awareness of their importance, sparked by disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
The researchers say the key factor though is the remarkable capacity of these forests to regenerate naturally once humans stop chopping them down.
Mangroves are one of the world's unsung environmental heroes.
Not only do they store up to five times more carbon dioxide than land-based forests, but their tangled roots can also slow down waves and protect coastal communities from storm surges and tsunamis.
These same roots provide a perfect nursery for many species of fish and other marine life - protecting them from predators and providing ample food.
These benefits, though, have come under serious threat over the past century as the rise of fish farming, agriculture and the expansion of coastal cities and towns have seen mangroves chopped down and rapidly removed.
From the 1980s to 2010, over 12,000 sq km (4,600 sq miles) of mangroves were cleared or destroyed across Asia, Africa and the Americas - an area the size of Jamaica.
However, the new study shows a real reversal of that trend, particularly over the last decade. The total net losses - the forest lost and not replaced - since the 1980s have now been reduced to around 849 sq km (328 sq miles).
Restoration efforts over decades have helped degraded forests to recover, but the big change has come from the natural expansion of mangroves in many parts of the world following drops in deforestation.
This has enabled forest levels to stabilise in Indonesia and grow…
Warning: this article contains distressing images
Dumped dead animals are a "shameful, regular sight" in rural rivers and watercourses in parts of Northern Ireland.
Paddy Little, a litter picking officer for a waters sports club, said he has seen a number of carcasses in the Blackwater River that flows between counties Tyrone and Armagh.
He said members had pulled a bag from the water, only to find it stuffed with a sheep carcass. The agriculture minister has called for an end to the "veil of secrecy" surrounding animal dumping incidents.
Figures show there were almost 150 animal dumping incidents since 2020, but only 15 people have been convicted of wrongful disposal of animals offences in the last five years.
"A lot of the times we're out litter picking we would see some sort of dead animal in the water," Little from Blackwater Paddle Sports added.
"It's a biohazard and it's hugely unpleasant for the community that uses this river."
The tags which identify farm animals' owners are often removed when a carcass has been illegally dumped.
Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has called for anybody with information on the illegal dumping of farm animals to contact authorities immediately.
"I'm aware the vast majority of farmers dispose of fallen livestock responsibly and many share my disgust, but this is wrong and we need to see people apprehended for it", he said.
Meanwhile the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) called on anyone illegally dumping farm animals to "stop it immediately" and follow proper procedures.
There are number of companies throughout Northern Ireland that will dispose of and process dead animals.
The carcass of one adult cow can cost on average between £80 to £100, this does not include any transportation charges.
UFU Deputy President Clement Lynch said: "Yes times are tight financially for farmers and dealing with dead livestock is an added cost, but that is no excuse for illegal dumping.
"It is probably a very small number carrying this o…
What role will humans play in the future of scientific research?
Who can buy shares in Elon Musk's SpaceX?
Next week shares go on sale in Musk's Texas-based SpaceX, a company that is planning to colonise Mars and put artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in space.
It is set to be the largest ever public sale of shares and will make SpaceX one of the US's top ten largest listed firms with a high proportion of those shares expected to be available to the wider public.
But for those who invest, what exactly will they be buying and what are the risks?
What is happening with SpaceX exactly?
SpaceX is currently owned by Musk and other private investors, but they are launching what is known as an Initial Public Offering, or IPO.
On 12 June millions of new shares in the company will start trading on the stock market for the first time.
The IPO aims to raise a vast amount of money - at least $75bn - and gives investors the chance to buy into a business whose activities range from space exploration and satellite communication to the social media site X and the controversial AI platform Grok.
SpaceX is separate from Musk's most well-known company, the electric car maker Tesla, although it is thought the two may end up merging next year.
Musk plans to use the extra money he is raising to expand SpaceX's current activities but also to fund new future ventures: mining asteroids, colonising Mars and putting AI data centres in space.
The sci-fi style sales prospectus says humans must avoid "the same fate as dinosaurs" and plan for an "age of abundance" based in space because the "light of consciousness" will not be tied to a single planet.
There is plenty of scepticism about the feasibility of some of these ambitions. But Musk's backers say he has beaten the doubters before.
And if the share sale goes ahead as outlined, it could make him a trillionaire.
Can anyone buy shares?
SpaceX shares will be traded on the New York technology-focused Nasdaq market, and some of the big global investment institutions are likely to buy shares. But indiv…
Kushner-backed luxury resort plan sparks protests in Albania
Protests in the centre of Albania's capital, Tirana, are not exactly unusual. The opposition Democratic Party (PD) stage them so often that they could almost be classified as an offbeat tourist attraction.
But this week's nightly rallies in front of Prime Minister Edi Rama's office have been different - targeting US President's Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as well as the Socialist Party government.
The focus of the anger is a proposed tourism project on Albania's Adriatic coast.
Kushner's Affinity Partners would be one of the investors – and Rama has welcomed his interest with open arms.
The same cannot be said of the protesters, who outwardly appear to have nothing to do with the mainstream opposition. To make that clear, some participants have been carrying placards calling for the imprisonment of PD leader Sali Berisha – who is facing separate corruption charges – as well as Rama.
The protesters are using a pink flamingo as their emblem. It echoes the deployment of a yellow duck in a long-running civic protest movement in Serbia's capital, Belgrade. But in Albania's case, the bird reflects the protesters' very specific concerns.
They say plans for the development on Sazan island and a site at Zvernec, near the coastal city of Vlora, pose a threat to flamingos - which are a protected species - as well as other species in the protected wetlands area.
Kushner's business partner, Asher Abehsera, says the project is focused on "responsible stewardship" and enhancing the environment, as well as creating jobs and value for local communities.
The protesters are also angry about what they see as a lack of transparency over Affinity Partners' involvement, with negotiations between the company and the government dating back to 2024.
Some placards at the protests have highlighted the participants' unhappiness about the concession of land to foreign developers, declaring Albania is "not for sale".
Th…
Officials have withdrawn advice for people not to bathe at Portstewart Strand after tests of the water showed it posed no risk to the public.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) issued the notice at the popular north coast beach on Wednesday following a suspected pollution incident .
That was to allow the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and Daera to take water samples as part of their investigation.
Daera said on Thursday that levels of bacteria from sewage or animal waste, were not high enough to pose a risk.
The National Trust, who manage the beach, confirmed they had been notified that water sampling had "returned within normal limits".
The warning for Portstewart Strand had advised members of the public against swimming and recommended that dogs be kept on leads and away from the water while officials investigated.
Signs warning people against bathing have now been removed.
Daera said that a similar temporary advice against bathing notice issued for Helen's Bay in County Down on Tuesday has also been lifted following water testing.
People are advised to check the NI Bathing Water Quality Dashboard and on-site signage for updates.
A project combining artificial intelligence with conservation has come to an end.
Space4Nature - a collaboration between Buglife, Surrey Wildlife Trust, the University of Surrey and Painshill Park - said it had spent three years working with new technologies and approaches to nature recovery.
It added it had combined high-resolution satellite imagery, citizen science and machine learning to "revolutionise how we understand and monitor habitats".
Space4Nature said it had also restored more than 60 hectares of pollinator habitat at 22 sites across Surrey, including wildflower meadows, heathlands, wetlands and hedgerows.
More than £100,000 had been deployed to connect network insect pathways, it added.
Space4Nature said some 350 volunteers had been trained in ecological surveys for both invertebrates and vegetation.
It explained that the data collected by volunteers was fed into machine learning models, alongside satellite imagery.
This allowed the Space4Nature team to develop a predictive model for grassland and lowland heathland habitats.
"Once peer-reviewed findings are published in scientific journals, the resulting habitat maps will be freely available via the LandApp platform – putting powerful conservation intelligence into the hands of anyone who needs it," according to Space4Nature.
"Space4Nature has advanced our ability to deploy the most cutting-edge satellite and machine learning technology for conservation purposes," said Zoe Channon from Surrey Wildlife Trust.
"But it has also put boots on the ground to deliver immediate improvements for pollinators in habitats.
"It's a perfect example of how local and strategic action can and must combine to deliver nature's recovery."
The project also engaged with local communities, partnering with schools, landowners, community groups and Surrey Nature Partnership in more than 150 events, Space4Nature added.
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Failing sea defences 'disaster' for nature reserve
An internationally-important nature reserve faces "disaster" after being flooded by seawater because of failing coastal defences, conservationists have said.
The 120-hectare (300-acre) Farlington Marshes Nature Reserve near Portsmouth is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA), Special Area for Conservation (SAC) and Ramsar site.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust has highlighted a failing tidal valve and crumbling sea wall which are letting salt water flood grazing marshland and wash away birds' nests and reed beds.
The Environment Agency (EA) said it was working to find a permanent fix but estimated it would cost about £90m to replace the entire 2-mile (3.5km) sea defence.
The site is home to bird species including bearded tit, avocet, redshank and lapwing.
Jamie Marsh, director of land management for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said: "This is a bit of a disaster", with eight hectares of reed bed already lost.
"We have a tidal flap that's not sealing off properly and we're seeing water flooding into the site.
"The elevated sea levels have flooded out a lot of these areas and consequently flooded out a lot of the nesting areas. So nests have been lost."
Birds have been forced to move to higher ground to renest and rebreed.
The tidal flap first broke in the spring of 2024. A temporary repair was put in place by the EA which is responsible for the sea defences.
Earlier this year, engineers installed a permanent replacement valve but that too has since failed.
Marsh said it had left the situation "back to square one".
"Habitats that were recovering are now back under threat and under pressure again."
Areas of salt marsh and marsh grazing like Farlington are incredibly important and rare habitat in the south of England.
Not only does it provide a unique home for wildlife but coastal fringes act as both a natural flood defence and a carbon sink.
But with rising sea levels due to climate …
An internationally important nature reserve in Hampshire is under threat from failing flood defences.
A wildlife trust is is celebrating the rare birth of red-ruffed lemur quadruplets.
Shaldon Wildlife Trust in Devon said the lemurs were "just so, so cute but so, so special at the same time."
The trust said red ruffed lemurs were only found in a small area of the northeast of Madagascar and were "critically endangered". It said the birth of quadruplets was incredibly rare, occurring in fewer than 6% of births worldwide.
Zak Showell, director of Shaldon Wildlife Trust, said it was a "huge success and a testament to the hard work that the team do looking after and caring for our animals."
The trust said the babies were born on 4 May to mother Eka and father Nero and were part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums breeding programme.
Showell said: "We leave her (Eka) to it ... this is actually her fourth set of offspring that she's ever had so she knows what she's doing ... but we make sure that we give her extra food to keep her energy reserves up."
He said the babies were moving a lot for a month old and the head keeper had seen one trying bites of food.
"They're progression is so so quick in comparison to many other animals," he said.
Showell said: "What's interesting is her partner Nero and their two sons from previous years are still around in that habitat but mum doesn't want them anywhere near the babies, she is being very, very protective."
He said the babies would stay at the zoo for a number of years and "learn from mum and dad how to be a lemur."
They could then be moved to other zoos to continue to breed.
It added alongside being part of the breeding programme, Shaldon Wildlife Trust directly supported the protection of the animals in the wild through their field conservation partner, the Lemur Conservation Association.
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An animal sanctuary says its conservation centre for a species of small wild cats will join an international breeding programme.
Rusty-spotted cats will have three outdoor enclosures at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, Kent, when a new facility is officially opened in July.
The organisation said resident male rusty-spotted cat Kuda would be joined by a female later in 2026 at the enclosures under the breeding scheme.
The nocturnal animals - native to India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal - are about half the size of domestic cats, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The international group classifies the cat as having a "near threatened" conservation status.
The Kent sanctuary said animals would be monitored by thermal cameras and have climate-controlled heat zones at the indoor component of the new facility.
Automated rainfall systems would mimic natural weather and support breeding success, according to the facility.
The Big Cat Sanctuary managing director Cam Whitnall said the development represented "a huge milestone not only for our sanctuary, but for the future conservation of the Rusty-spotted cat globally".
The charity hoped creating the enclosures would "help secure a sustainable future population while inspiring greater awareness and protection" for the cats, he said.
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A south London incineration company has been granted permission to process tens of thousands of extra tonnes of rubbish each year after the Environment Agency approved a permit variation.
Viridor Ltd can now increase the amount of waste handled at its energy recovery facility to 382,286 tonnes annually - an increase of nearly 35,000 tonnes.
This comes despite opposition from residents living near the Beddington site, who have previously told the BBC they are concerned about pollution and increased traffic.
Chair of Sutton Council's environment committee, Christopher Woolmer, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the decision, which the council had consistently opposed.
In the run-up to the ruling, locals spoke of unpleasant smells and a near-constant flow of lorries serving the facility, while community campaigners and councillors said repeated objections had been lodged with the Environment Agency on their behalf.
Concerns have also been fuelled by reports of previous emissions breaches at the energy-from-waste plant.
The incinerator exceeded its emission limits 916 times between 2022 and 2024. Viridor said the breaches were caused by a third-party contractor and were very small in scale.
It added they did not pose a risk to human health and said safeguards were now in place to prevent a recurrence.
The Environment Agency said it was satisfied the variation met environmental legislative requirements and provided a high level of protection for human health and the environment.
Matt Higginson, an environment manager for the Environment Agency, said permits placed "stringent conditions" on waste sites.
"Emissions from the plant are monitored around the clock, and the data is rigorously assessed to identify if any breaches to the permit occur."
The agency has powers to suspend or revoke permits, issue enforcement notices or pursue prosecution in serious cases.
The updated permit has also allowed the site to temporarily store and move some hazardous and cl…
Are electric vehicles finally going mainstream in India? A slew of indicators suggests the transition may finally be gathering momentum.
The market for electric cars expanded by a solid 25% in the year ending March 2026, while EVs crossed the important 5% threshold in India's passenger vehicle market earlier this year - a figure often seen as a tipping point for mass-market adoption.
"The transition is no longer directional but substantive," India's automobile dealers association said in a press note recently.
Adoption is accelerating particularly in larger cars priced above one million rupees ($10,481; £7,777), where one in every 10 vehicles sold is now electric. Electric three-wheelers and motorbikes already account for more than 30% and 15% of sales in their respective categories.
Interest in electric cars has spiked sharply in the last few months, particularly against the backdrop of the Middle East conflict.
India imports nearly 90% of its oil, and state-run fuel retailers have been forced to raise pump prices after keeping them relatively stable for four years, as crude prices jumped by 50%.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also urged Indians to car pool, use public transport and work from home to conserve fuel.
"This rising uncertainty, alongside elevated fuel prices, acts as an incremental driver strengthening the case for EVs," says Nomura, the Japanese brokerage.
But beyond these immediate triggers, several longer-term factors are also driving buyer interest, most notably upcoming regulatory norms, known as CAFE-3, which are scheduled to come into force from April next year and run until March 2032.
These "meaningfully tighten regulation and are likely to drive more visible acceleration in EV adoption", Venugopal Garre and Param Shah, analysts with Bernstein, said in a note.
India currently doesn't pair its EV incentives with stringent targets or penalties, something CAFE-3 will make binding, say Garre and Shah.
The draft rules seek to reduce…
Campaigners have said nesting swifts may have been displaced after part of a building was demolished in Dorking, after building work scheduled for autumn started during migration season.
Swift groups said a section of wall containing crevices used by the birds was removed at the site in Station Approach in May.
Photographer Amy Brewer said she saw birds attempting to return to nests which swifts use year after year, while Dorking Swift Conservation said an established colony could be lost.
Clarion Housing Group said ecological checks were carried out before demolition began and further checks undertaken throughout the works. Mole Valley District Council has issued a temporary stop notice.
Brewer, who has been documenting swifts, said she had previously seen birds entering gaps in the structure and believed several nests were present.
"I went back the day after and got footage of them flying around, trying to get in, but the wall had gone," she said.
"It was heartbreaking. You could tell they were trying to find where their nests were."
She said there was usually one pair to each nest and there were probably multiple nests at the site.
Julia Hemsley, a founder of Dorking Swifts Conservation, said the site had been used as a nesting colony for many years.
"They committed a wildlife crime. They were fully aware of nests there," she said.
She said swifts had been arriving in the UK looking for their nests and she had seen more than 30 swifts flying above the building site.
Hemsley warned it was not uncommon for the birds not to breed again after losing their nests.
"Swifts go back to nests year after year, they are very loyal to them," she said.
She said campaigners wanted the building developer to be held accountable under wildlife laws.
She also called on residents to put up swift boxes and use calls to attract the birds to new nesting sites.
Surrey Police said it had received reports and was reviewing the incident, including obtaining any relevant f…
Bathing warning issued after 'potential water pollution incident'
People have been advised to not enter the water at Portstewart Strand in County Londonderry as officials investigate a "potential water pollution incident".
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) said it was made aware of the incident at the popular beach at 20.18 BST on Tuesday and has issued a temporary advice against bathing notice.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency's (NIEA) pollution response team and Daera marine staff are now investigating the source of the suspected pollution.
As a precautionary measure on Wednesday, Daera said swimming was not recommended and that dogs must be kept on leads and away from the water.
Cause yet to be confirmed
A spokesperson for Daera said the advice was "intended to protect public health while further information is gathered".
The National Trust, which manages the beach, said officials from Daera and Northern Ireland Water were at the site on Wednesday carrying out investigations.
A spokesperson said the pollution could potentially be linked to food waste or grease entering the sea via the River Bann, but that the cause had not yet been confirmed.
"We are waiting for Daera Bathing Water to carry out sample testing and we will keep the advice against bathing in place until we know that the water is clear," the spokesperson said.
The temporary notice will remain in place while water samples are analysed and investigations continue.
What next for Upton Heath after charity buys land?
Restoring a section of neglected heathland habitat could take two to three years, a charity has said.
Dorset Wildlife Trust has completed the purchase of 110 acres at Upton Heath, near Poole, after a successful fundraising campaign.
CEO Brian Bleese says the first job has been to clear large amounts of litter that had accumulated and to carry out surveys to assess the health of the habitat.
Other priorities include scrub clearance and re-establishing fire breaks to prevent the spread of wildfires.
Upton Heath is an internationally important area of heathland and home to all six of Britain's native reptiles, including the rare sand lizard and smooth snake.
The 110-acre plot had previously been leased to the trust and was managed as part of the wider nature reserve but the lease was terminated "a few years ago" and the land offered for sale earlier this year with mineral extraction rights.
A community campaign raised more than £100,000 of the £300,000 to £500,000 asking price, allowing the charity to halt the planned auction and bring the land back under its management.
Bleese said: "It's a manmade habitat, created by human intervention over thousands of years.
"If it's left, it tends to scrub over, the heather becomes long and not good for wildlife, sandy patches will scrub over.
"It's also important to manage fire breaks to prevent the spread of wildfires and getting on top of scrub encroachment like pine trees.
"All of that improves the quality of the habitat."
Volunteers have been key to managing the wider heath, cutting gorse and heather in winter and removing pines.
"There's also a big litter problem," said Bleese.
"One of the first things we are doing is getting volunteers to pick up litter. We want to make sure it can be effectively grazed."
The improvements will be a gradual process and the land will remain accessible throughout the process.
"We will be looking at two or three years of consistent managemen…
A new phase of the natural El Niño weather pattern could begin in a matter of weeks, the UN has warned, boosting temperatures on a planet already under strain from climate change.
John McFall takes one step closer to becoming first disabled astronaut.
A farmer says he is having to remove litter from his fields on a daily basis.
About 300 water voles are released in Farnham as part of a bid to restore the species to the river.
What a day in India's hottest district reveals about life on the frontline of extreme heat.
According to Nasa, the meteor released the equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT when it broke up.