nature

A two-year project across three counties has uncovered more than 1,300 hectares (3,271 acres) of previously unknown ancient woodland.

These are woods that have persisted since 1600, packed with a range of forest-loving plant life, fungi, insects and micro-organisations, making up some 2.5% of UK land (609,990 hectares or 1,507,318 acres), external.

The project was run by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. The total area of ancient woodland in the area is now known to be 12,552 hectares (31,016 acres).

Almost 455,000 trees have been felled across the country by local councils over the past 10 years, i can reveal.

Campaigners have said more must be done to preserve trees and have accused councils of prioritising planning developments over environmental concerns.

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests sent to all 382 councils in the UK revealed North Lanarkshire felled the highest amount of trees at 31,480, followed by Birmingham with 21,486 and Hampshire County with 18,535 trees felled over the last decade.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and the Bee Friendly Trust have completed more than twenty ‘homes for nature’ at six Great Northern stations in and around north London and Hertfordshire: Bayford, Cuffley, Grange Park, Hadley Wood, New Barnet and New Southgate.

Great Northern aims to contribute to enhancing biodiversity on the railway by making its stations more nature friendly.

It hopes that its work will help to preserve wildlife, including the one in six species in the UK which are in danger of extinction.

A rare white stag linked to legendary King Arthur has been spotted in woodland in the UK. The huge animal with a full set of antlers was spotted by animal lover Brian Johnston on a quest to find it.

He had been on a mission to see it again after first coming across it a year ago. A friend of his had spent five years unsuccessfully looking for it.

White deer are extremely rare and are the subject of many myths and legends. Incredibly, Mr Johnston spotted two of them together as the older stag was with a white juvenile.