Sustainability

Turning Blue Monday Green: Residents want more greenery in Britain’s cities

With 16 January 2023 marking Blue Monday, dubbed the most depressing day of the year, in addition to the usual post-Christmas lull, dark wintry weather and awaiting the arrival of pay day, city dwellers have claimed a lack of greenery in their area is also giving them the blues. Research by Biotecture, a Mitie company, found that two thirds (66%) of people who live in urban environments want to see more botanical beauty where they live, with over a quarter (26%) feeling demotivated by the lack of green space in their area and one in five (20%) feeling isolated. More…

UK announces new package of climate support at COP27

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will make a series of announcements on energy transition, climate financing and forest and nature preservation at COP27 in Egypt today. The UK government will commit to tripling funding for climate adaptation, from £500m in 2019 to £1.5bn in 2025. He is hosting an event later today to launch the Forests and Climate Leaders’ Partnership. The new group, initially comprising 20 countries, will meet twice yearly to track commitments on the landmark Forests and Land Use declaration at COP26, which aims to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030. To support the forest agenda, the UK…

Housebuilder unveils Urban Wildlife Strategy to be rolled out in Thames region

Cala Homes Thames has launched its Urban Wildlife Strategy, outlining its intention to incorporate biodiversity improvement measures into every new home in the region. A 2021 study[1] estimated that the UK has lost almost half of its native biodiversity. Cala Homes Urban Wildlife Strategy, a first for the Cala Group devised by its Thames region, creates a design framework that establishes a biodiversity standard for every new home. The Urban Wildlife Strategy supplements the region’s objective for all sites to achieve biodiversity net gain and will be in addition to other planning requirements. Developed in collaboration with local wildlife groups,…

Millions of funding for projects to plant hundreds of thousands of trees

Hundreds of thousands of trees will be planted in communities across England thanks to funding through the Nature for Climate Fund. Over £12m will be allocated to the successful applicants to four funds supporting tree planting efforts for future generations. 260,000 trees will be planted outside of woodlands as part of the Local Authority Treescapes Fund with 139 local authorities awarded a share of the now £4.4 million pot across 42 projects. Projects will support a variety of ways to get trees in the ground, from natural regeneration and traditional planting to community engagement. Local residents, schools and environmental groups…

Environment Act becomes law

Legislation, the Environment Act, that will protect and enhance our environment for future generations has now passed into UK law. It will halt the decline in species by 2030, require new developments to improve or create habitats for nature, and tackle deforestation overseas. It aims to help us transition to a more circular economy, incentivising people to recycle more, encouraging businesses to create sustainable packaging, making household recycling easier and stopping the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries. These changes will be driven by new legally binding environmental targets, and enforced by a new, independent Office for Environmental…

idverde’s top tips for greening up supermarket car parks

Companies bidding for major government contracts face green rules

New measures which require businesses bidding for major government contracts to commit to achieving net zero emissions come into force. The implementation of these rules will help deliver the manifesto promises made by this government to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The requirements will apply to any companies bidding for government contracts worth more than £5million a year, not just those who are successful. The UK is the first country in the world to put such a measure in place, underlining the government’s leadership in the fight to tackle climate change. The new requirements come into effect ahead…

Rewilding half a million acres of Scottish Highlands

An ambitious 30-year landscape-scale rewilding initiative to link up a majestic sweep of the Scottish Highlands as one vast nature recovery area connecting Loch Ness to Scotland’s west coast has been launched by charity Trees for Life, and joins a select group of prestigious European rewilding areas. The Affric Highlands initiative follows three years of consultation between Rewilding Europe, Trees for Life, and other local partners and stakeholders. It will restore nature across a network of landholdings potentially covering an area of over 500,000 acres stretching from Loch Ness across the central Highlands to Kintail in the west, and encompassing…

UK’s first Green Gilt raises £10 billion for green projects

Green projects across the country are set to benefit from funding from the UK’s first ever Green Gilt which will help drive progress to net zero and create jobs across the UK. £10bn was raised from the sale of the Gilt this morning: the largest inaugural green issuance by any sovereign, with the largest ever order book for a sovereign green transaction. This will be followed by a second issuance later in the year. Green Gilts will raise a minimum of £15bn for green government projects like zero-emissions buses, offshore wind and schemes to decarbonise homes and buildings in this…

Green Up Campaign: Interview with Dr. Duncan Slater

Dr. Duncan Slater, senior lecturer in arboriculture at Myerscough College, tells us why he’s fully behind the Green Up Campaign and offers some key solutions to tree planting which would stop our supermarket car parks being full of dying trees. Why do you feel like the Green Up campaign is needed? Unfortunately, these high public-use areas, which are owned by commercial enterprises, are very often neglected after the initial installation of the landscaping scheme. They often lie at the heart of a town centre, or are key to how a retail area look for visitors and yet they are highly…

Green Up Campaign: Interview with idverde UK

Green Up Campaign: Interview with Hillier

Green Up Campaign: Interview with GreenBlue Urban

Pro Landscaper magazine’s Green Up Campaign

The climate change movement is an unstoppable force – and so it should be. The global temperature is rising, ice sheets are shrinking, glaciers are retreating, sea levels are rising. Time’s up. At Pro Landscaper magazine, we are constantly striving to showcase people, projects and initiatives which are joining this ambitious but wholly necessary fight against climate change. In fact, our ‘Green’ issues of Pro Landscaper dedicate themselves solely to all things sustainable, ecological, biodiverse and environmentally friendly. But we’re always asking our readers and ourselves what more we can do. That’s why we’ve launched the Green Up Campaign, committed…

Key to tackling climate change rooted in nature

A new report launched last week by the British Ecological Society highlights how nature can be a powerful source in responding to the crises of both biodiversity loss and climate change. The report offers a complete assessment of the potential of nature-based solutions (NbS) to mitigate climate change and help biodiversity in the UK. Gathering contributions from over 100 experts, the evaluation of the evidence analyses the strengths, limitations, and trade-offs of NbS in a variety of habitats across the UK. Despite the huge range of benefits NbS have, the report makes it clear that they should be seen only…

How honeybees have changed the floral landscape

These tiny pollinators have been essential in understanding how the UK’s fields, hedgerow, wild spaces, gardens have changed since the 1950’s. By using cutting-edge DNA barcoding techniques, scientists at the National Botanic Garden of Wales have identified the plants honeybees appear to favour by looking at the pollen grains trapped within honey. The differences were clear. White clover had been the most important plant for honeybees but, with fewer pastures today and increased use of herbicides and inorganic fertiliser in farming, this has dropped to second place. Now the insects are visiting much more of: bramble – their modern-day favourite…

Wildlife charities raise £8m for nature recovery scheme

The Wildlife Trusts has raised almost £8m just six months after launching its 30 by 30 ambition to kickstart nature’s recovery across 30% of land by 2030. Funds will buy land to provide new homes for wildlife and allow nature to thrive in increasing abundance across wilder, joined-up places. The plan is to reverse decades of steep wildlife decline and threat to the natural world. The Wildlife Trusts coalition has over the past year unveiled 10 new projects, which also include restoring arable fields to heathland, improving wildflower meadows and quadrupling the size of a nature reserve to help a…