LandIS is a comprehensive environmental information system containing the most extensive and detailed soil datasets available for England and Wales. Operated by Cranfield University for over 20 years - and originating from survey work dating back to the 1970s - it includes: ● NATMAP, the National Soil Map ● NATMAP Vector, a 1:250,000 map showing over 300 soil associations ● NATMAP Soilscapes, a simplified national soil map for broad applications ● NATMAP 1000 & 5000, gridded-vector soil reclassifications ● SOILSERIES datasets, offering detailed soil series properties ● Horizon data, describing physical and chemical properties of soil layers ● The National Soil Inventory, point based data on soil chemistry, structure, land use, and erosion

Unlocking the National Soil Map: free and unrestricted access to England and Wales's most comprehensive soil data defraenvironment.blog.gov.uk/2026/04/13/u...

LandIS Soil Data Portal portal.landis.org.uk

#soildata #openaccess #opendata?

Large chrysalis found in the compost this evening (safely re-buried elsewhere). Hawk moth of some kind? Anyone able to help ID more exactly?

For sheer colour intensity and vibrancy, nothing we do matches the natural world.

...brilliant!

Much the same in Derbyshire if it's any consolation. Today was marginally better than yesterday.

Hurray! Should be a deserved show down for other extreme right wingers in Europe.

Do you know someone who has been recording wildlife in the UK for many years? Have they made a real difference to our understanding of nature? If so, please nominate them for NBN Lifetime Achievement Award 2026. bit.ly/NBNawards26n... Deadline 18 May #NBNawards26 Thanks to sponsor @rspb.bsky.social

Do you know someone who does the vital job of verifying wildlife records in the UK? If so, please nominate them for the NBN Verifier’s Award. Deadline - 18 May #NBNawards26 bit.ly/NBNawards26n... Thanks to the prize sponsor @rspb.bsky.social

A scuba diver is underwater examining on the sea floor.

There are 7 different NBN Award categories to nominate someone for:
Lifetime Achievement, Verifier, Terrestrial Wildlife Recording, Marine Wildlife Recording, Group & Newcomer.

Who will you nominate?
bit.ly/NBNawards26n...

Deadline-18 May
@nbntrust.bsky.social
#NBNawards26 🌏

Oaks face 'slow burn' disaster Britain's oaks facing multiple threats in a ‘slow burn' ecological calamity – report.

Britain’s two native oak species, sessile oaks and pedunculate oaks, support more wildlife than any other native tree.

‘God squad’ waives endangered species law to allow US drilling in Gulf of Mexico Critics say exemption for fossil fuels exploits White House’s ‘self-made gas crisis’, and could doom the rare Rice’s whale

We’re suing the Trump admin for greenlighting extinction in the Gulf of Mexico. The “God Squad” voted last week to allow oil and gas companies to completely ignore endangered species protections in the Gulf — an exemption that could serve as a death sentence for already imperiled species.

A new economic superpower could spark a global retreat from fossil fuels | Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope Eighty-five countries have sought a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels. A conference this month offers hope they could unite

COP has been totally captured by the fossil fuel lobby, but a genuine alternative may be emerging, just in the nick of time.
share.google/XrWaBBr3N8sL...

Two types of solar panel, gearing up for another season of high productivity.

They're both crucial to combating climate breakdown, but the wild oak will also help against equally dire *ecological* collapse.

3 vital strands to a viable future:
● Rewilding
● Clean energy
● More plant-based diets

I love seeing these rewilding posts.

Alt for photo: An almost completely green butterfly on a twig, with a background of yellow flowers and leaves of a similar green.

Sounds very exciting. #university of Birmingham/ #BIFoR students might be interested. @birminghamalum.bsky.social.

Grizzled Skipper butterfly resting on forget-me-nots against a chartreuse background

Grizzled Skippers are back!

The first Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae) of 2026 was seen in Hampshire on the 6 April.

Keep up with the first sightings as they happen 👉 butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/first-butter...

📷: Nigel Kiteley

The Beginning Of The End For Fossil Fuels Can Start In Colombia 🇨🇴
Everything you need to know about the first-ever Transition Away From Fossil Fuels Conference taking place in Santa Marta, #Colombia.

Read our latest piece on @forbes.com
www.forbes.com/sites/we-don...

Fluffy yellow-white willow catkins against a clear blue sky

First willow warbler of the year, soon there’ll be one in every other tree!

Join our next free workshop as we explore how the arms industry has embedded itself within our schools and universities and is shaping young minds...

With speakers from @caatuk.bsky.social, @transitionsec.bsky.social, Demilitarise Education, and University of Sussex 🧪
www.sgr.org.uk/events/milit...

If that is the case, why does #europe focus on large on-shore wind generators? As an island, UK co-ops and community groups navigated on-shore planning, but off-shore has been predominantly a commercial concern. We need electric grid reorganisation, facilitating cheaper localised supply.

This could be of interest to many linked to the african continent.

Same spot, same time of year, 4 years apart.

Nothing planted.

Rewilding *works*.

Yon, little tree …

Two Noble Kinsmen 2.2.236

#ShakespeareSunday
@hollowcrownfans.bsky.social @treeshepherd.bsky.social @botanicalshax.bsky.social @prshakespearework.bsky.social

Israel preparing for attacks on Iranian energy sites, awaits US green light, official says Israel is preparing to ​attack Iranian energy ‌facilities but is awaiting a green ​light from ​the United States, a ⁠senior Israeli ​defense official said ​on Saturday, adding that any such attacks wo...

If Trump gives Israel the go-ahead to attack Iranian energy, this illegal war will go to a whole other level of pain.

Israel is a mad dog state, aiming to Balkanise the whole Middle East in order to facilitate its own expansion.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...

One of Ireland's less common butterflies, the green hairstreak, in a rewilding part of the farm yesterday.

Rewilding isn't just about getting more trees and forests back, but increasing diversity and abundance of *all* our natural species and ecosystems.

Bluebells in the woods

If you go down to the woods today …

6/ I think saying ‘our gardens are bigger than all our national nature reserves’ is misleading because it individualises the problem.

Nature-friendly gardening is great, but political action is more important, & we really need the Government to create more nature reserves!

[End]

WEEK ONE!
The UKBMS surveys officially kick off today 🎺 🥳 🦋
If you're taking part, check the weather and choose a good day for your survey this week - temps above 13degrees, sun and light winds are best. Weeks run from each Wednesday to the following Tuesday this year.
Good luck!

Thanks, what a great idea!

Butterfly Conservation's hairy caterpillars to see in spring & summer: Oak/Northern Eggar, Drinker, Dark Tussock, Vapourer, Emperor Moth, Fox Moth, Wood Tiger. Graphic of a pen and a checklist next to text which reads: "Spotted a hairy caterpillar? Report your sightings via the ‘Peatland Caterpillars Recording Project’ activity on the iRecord app or website: irecord.org.uk" Photo credits: Bob Eade, Russell Gomm, Iain Leach, Mark Parsons

Look out for these seven hairy caterpillars found on our precious peatlands in the North of England 🐛🔍

Spotted a hairy caterpillar? Report your sighting to us through the ‘Peatland Caterpillars Recording Project’ on iRecord 👉 irecord.org.uk/join/peatland-caterpilla...