Green Finance Institute report said further pollution could cut 12% off GDP by 2030s The destruction of nature over the rest of the decade could trigger a bigger economic slump in Britain than those caused by the 2008 global financial crisis and the Covid pandemic, experts have warned. Sounding the alarm over the rising financial cost from pollution, damage to water systems, soil erosion, and threats from disease, the report by the Green Finance Institute warned that further breakdown in the UK’s natural environment could lead to a 12% loss of gross domestic product (GDP) by the 2030s ..read more

Royal Horticultural Society hopes punters will be inspired by Salford winner of pub garden competition Pub gardens often feature barren patios, characterless lawns and – worst of all – fake grass. Now, the Royal Horticultural Society is asking landlords across the country to plant up their patios, saying they are full of untapped potential for urban green space and wildlife ..read more

More than 50% of the planet’s species live in the earth below our feet, but only a fraction have been identified – so far Read more: No birdsong, no water in the creek, no beating wings: how a haven for nature fell silent The sound of an earthworm is a distinctive rasping and scrunching. Ants sound like the soothing patter of rain. A passing, tunnelling vole makes a noise like a squeaky dog’s toy repeatedly being chewed. On a spring day at Rothamsted Research, an agricultural research institution in Hertfordshire, singing skylarks and the M1 motorway are competing for the airways. But the atte ..read more

As nature falls silent in most cities around the world, New Zealand’s capital has been transformed by the sound of native birds returning to the dawn chorus Read more: No birdsong, no water in the creek, no beating wings: how a haven for nature fell silent Some time in the pre-dawn darkness, the commotion starts. From her bed, Danae Mossman hears the noise building: loud romantic liaisons, vomiting, squeals, the sound of bodies hitting the pool at full tilt. Things get particularly loud between midnight and 4am, Mossman says, “when they are getting busy”. A kororā, or little penguin, colony li ..read more

The dramatic decline of marsh tits in an ancient Cambridgeshire woodland is a story repeated across the UK as human activity drives species towards extinction Read more: World faces ‘deathly silence’ of nature as wildlife disappears, warn experts Richard Broughton has been nosing around this neighbourhood for 22 years. He gossips about inhabitants past and present, reeling off information about their relationship status, openness to visitors, brawls and neighbourly disputes. “They used to have a big punch up in spring here,” he says, pointing out where one family’s territory ends and the next ..read more

Loss of intensity and diversity of noises in ecosystems reflects an alarming decline in healthy biodiversity, say sound ecologists Read more: No birdsong, no water in the creek, no beating wings: how a haven for nature fell silent Sounds of the natural world are rapidly falling silent and will become “acoustic fossils” without urgent action to halt environmental destruction, international experts have warned. As technology develops, sound has become an increasingly important way of measuring the health and biodiversity of ecosystems: our forests, soils and oceans all produce their own acoustic ..read more

What can sound tell us about nature loss? Guardian biodiversity reporter Phoebe Weston tells Madeleine Finlay about her visit to Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire, where ecologist Richard Broughton has witnessed the decline of the marsh tit population over 22 years, and has heard the impact on the wood’s soundscape. As species lose their habitats across the world, pioneering soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause has argued that if we listen closely, nature can tell us everything we need to know about our impact on the planet Find more reporting from the Age of Extinction team here ..read more

Woodland grant schemes bring the potential for many ecosystem benefits, writes Dr Robert Mills It is of deep concern to see the core funding for national parks fall, and it is widely known that the UK has a considerable challenge to tackle nature depletion and the biodiversity crisis (National parks in England and Wales failing on biodiversity, say campaigners, 9 April). There should be an overhaul of how parks are funded to emphasise these issues, and how actions by all interest groups, from landowners to tenant farmers, can be supported towards positive outcomes and maintaining liveliho ..read more

Their diggings aerate soil, recycle organic matter, boost microbial activity and support plant growth Invertebrate of the year 2024: all hail Earth’s spineless heroes The people have spoken and the choice of Guardian readers for the final nominee for UK invertebrate of the year is resounding: all hail Lumbricus terrestris, the common earthworm. The common earthworm – also known as the lob worm, dew worm, nightcrawler and, in Germany, the rain worm – is the soil-maker. Without its labours, we would struggle to feed ourselves ..read more

Chamonixia caespitosa found during rewilding project in west Highlands while removing non-native Sitka spruce Naturalists have found a very rare type of truffle living in a Scottish forestry plantation which is being cut down so a natural Atlantic rainforest can grow in its place. The discovery of the globally rare fungus near Creagan in the west Highlands has thrown up a paradox: the work to remove the non-native Sitka spruce, to allow rewilding by native trees, means the truffle will be lost ..read more