A new tool by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) allows users to explore how much PM 2.5 (micro particulate matter) is removed from the atmosphere by UK woodlands each year. Using an interactive map, the platform provides an estimate of how much woodland cover is present across each local authority—including any recent addition or removal—as well as a monetary value for pollution removal. For more details, click here.

The government has updated and strengthened the green infrastructure section in its planning practice guidance for England. The documents now refer to the 25 Year Environment Plan; clarify the links between green infrastructure, health and the economy; and include a section on 'net gain'. For more details, click here.

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England's countryside protections are fragmented, misunderstood and sometimes marginalised, according to the interim report of the designated landscapes review commissioned by Michael Gove MP. In a letter to the former environment secretary, Julian Glover, the review’s lead, said that governance of national parks was particularly in need of reform, claiming that boards are often too big and don’t do a good job of setting st...

The government's 25 Year Environment Plan has strong aspirations for the sustainable management of soil but is lacking strategy, according to the Natural Capital Committee. The group, an independent advisory body to the government, calls for the mandatory protection and enhancement of soils in all future environmental land management scheme and more investment in monitoring for soil health.  For more details, click here.

Proposals to introduce a mandatory 'biodiversity net gain' tariff on developers are flawed, according to a report by the Natural Capital Committee. The independent body says that rather than introducing a tariff which focuses solely on the protection of biodiversity, the government should have sought to create something which would safeguard the wider environment. They also warn that the tariff would not apply to a lot of developments, includi...

The Committee on Climate Change has listed mass afforestation among a package of reforms which would help the UK become carbon neutral within the next 30 years. In a new report created at the request of the government, the group calls for law makers to introduce a mandatory target for 'net zero' carbon emissions by 2050, a move which would end the country's contribution to global warming. In order to reach the target, the report says, the gove...