I've written Joe Harkness's obituary for the Guardian. I hope it pays good tribute to a wonderful man who was brave, honest and made the world a better place. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Joe Harkness obituary

Writer, teacher and naturalist who explored the effects of the natural world on neurodivergency

theguardian.com

Gorgeous visit to the sunny Lincolnshire coast yesterday to see the latest golf course given back to nature. Credit to @nationaltrust.org.uk for being brave. This is nature as human regen too – fantastic new green infrastructure for Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Skylarks and sandwich terns among new birdies on reserve created from ‘boring old golf course’

National Trust has transformed Sandilands in Lincolnshire into a nature reserve with wetlands and wading pools

theguardian.com

Surprisingly, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris didn’t pour themselves a Guinness during their epic signing queue at Epic, Norwich, last night. It was a fabulous Book of Birds evening. Many thanks to the great crowd and to @norwichartscentre.bsky.social for hosting us.

Very much looking forward to celebrating autumn, nature writing & John Clare's poetry in the beautiful setting of Clare Cottage in Helpston on Monday 12 Oct: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-th... Everyone welcome. No writing experience necessary. #johnclare #naturewriting @johnclare.bsky.social

Writing the Rural Seasons: Colours of Autumn

Guardian Country Diarist Nic Wilson explores the spirit of autumn through creative writing, taking inspiration from Clare’s nature poems

eventbrite.co.uk

Also going to bang on about more literary legends talking in Norfolk. The Mannington Book Bash is simply the nicest small literary festival. This Fri, I'm interviewing Jackie Morris. On Sat, I'm talking to Norfolk legends Norman Lamb and Delia Smith. Both are brilliant! mannington.co.uk/book-bash/

Going to bang on about this a few more times because it is tomorrow, 24th, in Norwich, and it's a really special treat! Wainwright Prize winners 2026 Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris are talking about their gorgeous BOOK OF BIRDS (I'll be interviewing them) at 7.30pm. Last few tickets left!

There won’t be two more interesting people speaking in Norwich this Thursday!

Patrick Barkham@patrickbarkham.bsky.social · 3w ago

Right Norfolk dwellers, you've got the 2026 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE WINNERS Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris talking in Norwich next Thursday. Tickets not quite sold out yet. Come along, they are both amazing. And deserved winners! www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...

Can't quite believe I will be interviewing 2x Norfolk legends in the space of a day next weekend – Norman Lamb (brilliant new book about how to fix mental health treatment) and DELIA SMITH (amazing new book about how to fix the world). At the Book Bash. You're invited! mannington.co.uk/book-bash/

My beautiful 1-bed cottage in Wells-next-the-Sea is surprisingly available for most of Oct. The season of geese, sunsets and hot chips! It's a blessed retreat for writing, walking, swimming, bird-watching, sea-watching. Book directly with Lisa for best rates www.glavenvalley.co.uk/holiday-cott...

Rest in peace, Joe Harkness. I was shocked and gutted when I heard the news. He was a generous, inspirational teacher and such an important writer. He was brutally honest, inclusive and funny too. When I interviewed him last summer (below) he was so full of life. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Intrinsically connected’: how human neurodiversity could help save nature

Biodiversity is linked to people’s diversity, and nature lends itself to people who are different, says author Joe Harkness

theguardian.com

Derek v Derek is a great film – highly recommend it to everyone, farmers and rewilders alike. And I hugely enjoyed talking to Derek and Derek for this feature. As a badge promoting the film says: "I'm with Derek." www.theguardian.com/film/2026/se...

‘The man’s a psychopath when it comes to hedgerows’: Derek vs Derek, the unexpectedly heartwarming doc about farmers at war

One Devon farmer, called Derek, is committed to rewilding his land. His neighbour, also a Derek, tends cattle and crops. What happened when a film-maker decided to follow the bickering pair?

theguardian.com

The amazing disappearing woodland target! 🌳 In their 2021 Vision, Dartmoor National Park Authority set a goal to create 2,000 hectares of new broadleaf woodland (image 1). In their reissued 2026 Vision, DNPA have now... deleted any target for creating woodland on Dartmoor! (image 2) 🤪

Right Norfolk dwellers, you've got the 2026 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE WINNERS Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris talking in Norwich next Thursday. Tickets not quite sold out yet. Come along, they are both amazing. And deserved winners! www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...

Will next year see a butterfly slump after this year's lovely year of (relative) abundance? I spoke to Matthew Oates and Richard Fox to find out more. Personally, I'm hopeful. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Record heatwaves bring Britain’s second-best butterfly season in 16 years

Volunteers counted almost 1.4m common butterflies and moths, with painted ladies up 335% on last year

theguardian.com

Norfolkians! This is a HUGE autumn highlight – the star of this year's Reith Lectures, Robert Macfarlane, and wonder-artist Jackie Morris talking about their beautiful Book of Birds at Epic Studios. Sept 24th. (I'll be asking the questions, and I can't wait.) Tickets miraculously still available.

More marathon-running badgers! Great work Nik Shelton, who has a much better badger head than I did, and is raising money for The Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants, one of the most dynamic Wildlife Trusts who are doing fantastic work for local nature. www.justgiving.com/page/nik-she...

Running with Team Badger at the Great Eastern Run this Brocktober! 🦡

Help Nik Shelton raise money to support The Wildlife Trust BCN

justgiving.com

Today about 100 people took part in a mass trespass in the Prime Minister’s constituency. There’s a right to roam over just 1% of Makerfield, & today the landowner proved our point for us: putting up fencing & calling the police. @andyburnham.bsky.social - please open the door to the countryside!

We did a thing swla.co.uk/support-us/t...

Lovely exhibition surrounded by autumnal loveliness just outside the window at Knepp. It’s on for the next month if you’re near West Sussex… www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Artist delights in beautiful ‘mess’ and dead trees of England’s rewilding sites

Rebecca Howard spent two years visiting projects and painting landscapes that feature in West Sussex exhibition

theguardian.com

All those released Pheasants don't help.

BirdGuides@birdguides.bsky.social · 4w ago

Adder has been declared extinct in Warwickshire, with conservationists warning that the loss reflects a wider decline of the species across parts of Central England:

Norfolkians! This is a HUGE autumn highlight – the star of this year's Reith Lectures, Robert Macfarlane, and wonder-artist Jackie Morris talking about their beautiful Book of Birds at Epic Studios. Sept 24th. (I'll be asking the questions, and I can't wait.) Tickets miraculously still available.

North Sea, Nature Untamed is essential cinematic viewing for anyone who has ever gazed upon the North Sea and wondered why it is so brown?! (Maggi Hambling once told me off for saying so. "It's bronze, darling," she said.) www.theguardian.com/film/2026/se...

‘Sharks are my film stars’: how the Jacques Cousteau of the North Sea finally unlocked its beauty

Epic plankton blooms make filming in the North Sea notoriously difficult. But a new documentary gives a rare glimpse of the kaleidoscopic life – seals, sharks, tuna, orcas and shorthorn sculpins – lur...

theguardian.com

Exciting set of large nature restoration and rewilding projects in Northumberland... www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Britain’s Yellowstone’: restoration project aims to take the greed out of land acquisition

Investors in Emblehope Moor will get their financial returns – and then it will be given to community or charity owners

theguardian.com

It's not often you can pinpoint real, positive change a journalist has caused. But as Turkmeni sources state, @dpcarrington.bsky.social's persistent and probing coverage of this issue has been critical to a change of policy, with massive implications. Big congrats www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Breakthrough’ as Turkmenistan starts fixing ‘mindboggling’ methane mega-leaks

Secretive state begins repairs on ageing facilities after being revealed as worst country for leaks of potent greenhouse gas

theguardian.com

This is unreal. In 2025, water companies in England and Wales reported 8,576 "dry spill" raw sewage discharges (ie, not when "overwhelmed" by rain). Jan-May 2026: 7,280 dry spill raw sewage discharges. When will government get a grip? www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Dry weather sewage discharges soar as water companies face scrutiny

Exclusive: 7,280 suspected illegal spills in rivers and sea recorded in first five months of 2026

theguardian.com

So proud of my Dads self-seeded hay meadow covered so very brilliantly (huge thanks) by @patrickbarkham.bsky.social in the Guardian today. ‘I love it. It’s hope’: the mysterious self-willed wildflower meadow that seeded itself | Biodiversity | The Guardian share.google/rqDHUdpZBXuy...

‘I love it. It’s hope’: the mysterious self-willed wildflower meadow that seeded itself

Farmer Derek Sayer let a boggy field run wild and just one annual hay-cut has led to remarkable biodiversity

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Entire life commitment. Respect and gratitude. RIP, Paul Brown. “Their warnings captured the attention of the former scientist turned prime minister Margaret Thatcher, but it took a while to interest news editors even at @theguardian.com, as Paul told his successor @fionaharvey.bsky.social”.

Damian Carrington@dpcarrington.bsky.social · last mo.

Paul Brown, the pioneering environment correspondent for the Guardian, has died He was a brilliant journalist, colleague and human being and will be much missed, and always remembered www.theguardian.com/media/2026/a...

And the winner if the Guardian Invertebrate of the Year 2026 is…. Of course there are really 1.3m++ winners and if we don’t save them we are LOSERS! (Sorry came over all Trumpian then 😆) www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Winner of Invertebrate of the Year 2026 crowned – and it is the size of a grain of rice

The leaf sheep, a neon green solar-powered slug, has inspired at least one Pokémon character and triumphs in global ballot

theguardian.com

"The house represents what we​ ourselves​ would like to be on Earth: permanent, rooted, here for eternity. But​ a camp represents the true reality of things: we’re just passing through" Remembering Roger Deakin today, 20 years since he died.

Sad story about ancient oaks dying in the drought. I know other custodians of these amazing trees (Britain has far more than the rest of Europe combined) who say they've been really struggling in recent summers. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

England’s ancient oak trees dying in extreme hot and dry weather

Woodland Trust says trees struggling in drought stress, with older ‘survivors’ disproportionately affected

theguardian.com