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Hello from a very sunny (for the moment) Skinflats nature reserve. We have a bit of a treat today, it's the first Futurescapes guest blog! This has been written by Kate Fuller of the Inner Forth Landscape Initiative, a project which is delivering parts of the Inner Forth Futurescape, plus a lot more...

This blog is filled with the stories of special places for nature. It makes sense to indentify those sites that most important for particular species and ensure that they are effectively protected. But what happens if the species that depend on particular sites move their distribution in response to...

Wednesday is the first anniversary of the National Planning Policy Framework, or NPPF. The draft was subject of much controversy, and even though the final version was much improved, it’s clearly open season for debate about its impact, especially about the ‘presumption in favour of sustainable...

The future of England’s Green Belts has been in the news again. Our colleagues over at the Campaign to Protect Rural England have published a map of Green Belts under threat. Housing minister Grant Shapps has re-iterated the Government’s commitment to protect the Green Belt. Green Belt...

So the fight against plans for new coal at Hunterson is over. It's been one of the campaigns that has been running throughout the course of this blog and it has been aimed at preventing the development of a new coal-fired power plant at Hunterston on the Clyde. Recently the level of public and...

This blog has been following the story of many special places for wildlife and the people who work tirelessly to save them, nurture them and make them accessible for others to enjoy. It’s 100 years since Charles Rothschild’s idea that the best places for wildlife should be protected led...

As a postscript to my last post on the National Planning Policy Framework (can you have a post postscript?), I see that MPs held a debate on it this week. Planning minister Greg Clark introduced the debate by citing a lot of things that the NPPF does. He said, ‘The NPPF makes it crystal clear...

I have now read the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) line-by-line, comparing it with last year’s draft. I am impressed, and still happy, as Martin Harper reported in his blog yesterday . Why am I so happy? Martin mentioned our top three red lines . The Government has listened...

The wait is over. Just under nine months after the Government published its draft new planning policy for England – the National Planning Policy Framework, or NPPF – the final version has been delivered. Here’s what we said in our press release: The Government has listened to public...

Here at the RSPB and at other environment charities we’re waiting with bated breath for the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (the NPPF). The Government has committed to publishing it by the end of March, and we suspect it may come out sooner, possibly even before the Budget...

I was delighted to hear last week that, in a long-running court case in Portugal, a property developer had been given a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 150,000 euros for habitat destruction to the Ria de Alvor marshes. I first visited these marshes more than 15 years ago. The Ria...

The river Nene goes through a transformation as it flows from the English Midlands to the East ... refer to the ‘Neen’ in Northamptonshire and you will raise eyebrows – you are in river ‘Nen’ territory! The water carried from the heart of England towards the sea used...

It’s been a difficult year for environmental planners in England. In the summer we had the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the subject of an intense public furore. Autumn gave us the Chancellor’s statement moaning about the burdens imposed by environmental protection and...

On Monday, after what felt like a never-ending process of drafting and honing, we submitted our response to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s consultation on the controversial draft National Planning Policy Framework. Our response was formed of three parts. The first was...

We heard today that the Court of Session in Edinburgh has ruled that it was not illegal for Scottish Ministers to decide that building a new a coal plant at Hunterston is in the national interest. We've been following the twists and turns of the proposal to build a new coal-fired power station...

It’s always exciting when the political tectonic plates start to shift as a result of effective campaigning. The unified raspberry that has greeted the draft of the EnPeePeeEff (National Planning Policy Framework) across England (the rest of the UK can relax for now) has at last brought the Prime...

In the wake of the Sunday Times article (11 September), which splashed the advisory group for the National Planning Policy Framework all over the front page and inside too, today’s Daily Telegraph contains an opinion piece by me which explains the RSPB’s position and some of the problems...

My colleague, Kate Jennings, who's our Site Poilcy Officer - has been at the heart of working to protect our best wildlife sites ... here she reflects on some significant recent publications. Last week saw the little-heralded (although by some long-awaited...) publication of two Government reports...

A little over 150 years ago laws were passed to stop the slaughter of seabirds at Flamborough Head in Yorkshire. One of the leaders of the efforts to do something to stop the killing was the Vicar of Bridlington. A century and half later and the places seabirds nest on land are pretty well protected...

Over 5000 responses are already in and most are objections to plans by Ayrshire Power to construct a new coal-fired power station at Hunterston. This recent article in the Herald shows just how wide the coalition of opposition has become. You can catch up on the background to the case here and here...

In just a few short weeks the great migration of wildfowl and waders will be underway from the arctic. A stream of birds will head south to escape the rigours of the arctic winter. At first the move south is leisurely turning to a flood as summer gives way to the autumn. Our islands are perfectly...

We’ve been running a photographic competition in Northern Ireland. The winning images have just been announced. You can have a peep here (follow the link at the bottom of the page). And here's some press coverage. The competition was called ‘Nature’s Hotspots’ and its theme...

We have been following the progress of the Whitson SSSI public inquiry which, in short, was hearing an appeal into a refusal to give retrospective planning permission for an aerodrome on Upfield Farm on the Gwent Levels in South Wales. We have now heard that the appeal has been refused. The aerodrome...

Here’s the first update from the Public Inquiry currently underway in Newport. If you want to catch up with the story so far – you can read the first post . In short, this Public Inquiry is now looking at an appeal into refusal of a retrospective planning application for development of...

For the first time, since this blog started, the RSPB will be involved in a public inquiry. The case revolves around a planning permission issued by Newport City Council in the late 1990s allowing the use of a grass landing strip for aircraft flown by the family and friends of the applicant. The land...