Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Pupils told to play indoors because of attacks by bird of prey, which follow strikes by hawk near Luton A buzzard called Brenda has been terrorising a 300-year-old primary school on the outskirts of London, sending children running for cover while neighbours have been dive-bombed as they put out the bins. Pupils at Dame Tipping Church of England primary school in the village of Havering-atte-Bower, in the London borough of Havering, have been told they cannot play outside while the bird remains a threat. Continue reading...

The judge wanted us to show remorse, but I can’t apologise for fighting the climate disaster Last week, at Minshull Street crown court in Manchester, I was sentenced to two and half years in prison for conspiring to intentionally cause a public nuisance. The prosecution’s case was that I intended to “obstruct the public or a section of the public in the exercise or enjoyment of a right that may be exercised or enjoyed by the public at large” – in other words, that I was part of Just Stop Oil’s plan to obstruct planes at Manchester airport. I did intend that – and I have a defence for my actions. The offence of public nuisance – which falls under the Criminal Law Act 1977 and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 – was traditionally and frequently used to prosecute significant environmental offences. It punished big corporations causing real harm to the general public by poisoning water, polluting air, emitting dust and noise or dumping chemical waste. There is no irony lost in the fact that the same offence in statutory form is now being zealously deployed to prosecute environmental protesters. Indigo Rumbelow is co-founder of Just Stop Oil. She is serving a sentence in HMP Styal Continue reading...

Exclusive: Planning bill includes mechanism for developers to ‘pay to pollute’ valuable ecosystems, experts warn Ten top jewels at risk from the bill ​New approach could help nature survive More than 5,000 of England’s most sensitive, rare and protected natural habitats are at high risk of being destroyed by development under Labour’s new planning bill, according to legal analysis of the legislation. The Guardian has examined the threat the bill poses to 5,251 areas known as nature’s “jewels in the crown”, as some of the country’s most respected wildlife charities call for a key part of the bill to be scrapped. Continue reading...

Our wildlife series Young Country Diary is looking for articles written by children, about their summer encounters with nature Once again, the Young Country Diary series is open for submissions! Every three months, as the UK enters a new season, we ask you to send us an article written by a child aged 8-14. The article needs to be about a recent encounter they’ve had with nature – whether it’s a thriving rock pool, a day fruit-picking, or a compost heap full of bugs. Continue reading...