(We’re working on a snappier name… suggestions welcome!)
Here at WWOOF HQ, we wanted to start sharing something a little different.
It’s often easy to feel weighed down by all the doom and gloom headlines, especially relating to nature and the climate. While those realities are real, they are not the whole story.
Across the UK and beyond, people are doing amazing things from protecting wildlife to building more resilient food systems. Quietly and steadily producing results, without making much noise.
So this is the first in what we hope to be a monthly round-up of good news. The kind that reminds us why we do what we do.
Wales’ largest rewilding project takes root
Earlier this year, Welsh charity Tir Natur secured over 1,000 acres in the Cambrian Mountains, with plans to create what could become Wales’ largest rewilding project.
The site was purchased following a public fundraising appeal that raised around half of the purchase cost, with the remainder supported by a philanthropic bridging loan to allow the charity to act quickly.Now that the land is secured, fundraising continues to ensure restoration and community work can begin without delay.
The ambition is not simply to leave the land alone, but to restore natural processes and habitats in a way that allows the ecosystem to eventually function independently. Plans include careful introduction of hardy cattle (like those in the Scottish highlands) and Welsh mountain ponies. Alongside traditional pigs breeds, this is to encourage natural grazing patterns and vegetation diversity. Other areas will have peatlands re-wetted and woodland regeneration supported. The hope is that species such as red squirrels and hen harriers may increasingly find suitable habitats as the landscape recovers.
What feels particularly important about the project is its community focus. Tir Natur has spoken about using local tradespeople and contractors wherever possible, ensuring that restoration work supports rural livelihoods rather than replacing them. It is rewilding not as exclusion, as collaboration.
Still very early days, but something we will be watching very closely at WWOOF HQ.
Click here for more information
Scotland’s Natural Environment Bill offers a lifeline for wildlife
In January this year, Scotland passed its landmark Natural Environment Bill, introducing legally binding targets to halt biodiversity loss and restore nature.
These targets form part of Scotland’s wider commitment to become nature positive by 2030 and substantially restore nature by 2045. For those of us who care about the land, this matters. Targets written into law mean accountability for those who make decisions for the country.
The bill also includes updated legal frameworks for National Parks and groundbreaking requirements for swift nest bricks or boxes to be installed on new buildings. This is the first time any UK nation has legally required nesting provisions for a declining species in new developments.
Gillian Martin, the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy said the following:
“By putting nature targets into law, we are ensuring that the government can be held to account for delivering real, measurable change. Scotland’s natural environment underpins our economy, our wellbeing and our quality of life. Protecting it is not optional, it is essential.”
Scotland is often imagined as wild and abundant. And in many places it is, but in reality, the UK remains one of the most nature-deplated countries in the world, with Scotland ranking low in biodiversity intactness globally.
This bill won’t fix everything overnight, but it seems like it will shift the tide in the right direction. It should strengthen protection for species such as Puffins, swifts and red squirrels, and increases legal backing for wetlands and protected habitats across the country.
Cicadas return to England after decades of silence
Once found across parts of southern England, the New Forest Cicada, has not been confirmed in the wild since the 1990s. Following extensive research and collaboration, conservationists from the Species Recovery Trust have begun rearing cicadas transported from Northern France in a specially created habitat near Romsey, Hampshire.
The long term goal is to reintroduce them into suitable areas of the New Forest. But since Cicadas spend several years underground as nymphs, sometimes four years or more. That means that the success of the project will not be truly known until close to 2029. So the team is in for the long haul.
The habitat created for the insects includes raspberry canes and hazel saplings, plants they love. Researchers believe the original UK population declined due to changes in land management, now with ongoing collaboration between conservationists and Forestry England, conditions are now being carefully restored.
Funded by NAtural England, the Swire Charitable Trust and the Valentine Charitable Trust, this is the first project of its kind in England and there is something quietly hopeful about the idea that one day, the New Forest may sing again.
Click here for more information
Changes to Environmental Land Management schemes
The UK Government has announced updates to the Environmental Land Management schemes, including the reopening of the Sustainable Farming Incentive for small and new farmers in 2026.
For smaller farms, access to environmental support payments has felt uncertain in recent years. This reopening signal renewed recognition that smaller, nature friendly sites are a crucial part of the agricultural landscape.
The intention is to simplify access and provide more practical support for farmers delivering soil heath improvements, biodiversity gains and sustainable practices.
Details are still emerging, but any support that prioritises regenerative and ecological farming approaches can only be a good thing for many of our friends and hosts here at WWOOF UK.
Have you spotted any good news?
If something positive is happening in your patch of land or community, we would love to hear about it. Click here to send us a message and help us spread a little more good news across the WWOOF community.
