Between ages 12-18? Become a Junior Ranger!

Junior Rangers play an important role in looking after Protected Areas in the UK and the wildlife that lives there. By becoming a Junior Ranger you will have the opportunity to develop new life skills and gain experience completing outdoor practical tasks. You’ll also get a chance to socialise with like-minded volunteers and explore some…

Dragonflies of Durham

Find out how Dragonflies are fairing across Wildlife Trust sites in Durham; Michael Coates, Durham County Dragonfly Recorder, reports on the recording effort and and results on WT nature reserves. Overall 20 species were seen, an impressive total for a northern county, with Rainton Meadows producing the most species sighted: a total of 16 over the…

Smallford Pits update: no charges from Crown Prosecution Service

Last month, staff and volunteers at the BDS were outraged to learn about the apparent deliberate poisoning of ponds at one of Hertfordshire’s top dragonfly sites: Smallford Pits (read here). This criminal act followed a previous incident in September 2020 during which the ponds were trashed with heavy machinery. Smallford Pits is a designated Local Wildlife…

Meet Cephalozygoptera! The newly described, and sadly extinct, Odonata suborder

Researchers from Simon Fraser University, Canada, announced the classification of a new suborder of extinct Odonata after conducting an extensive review of fossil specimens and scientific papers dating back as far as 162 years. Within the historic studies they found descriptions of specimens that matched fossils collected from British Columbia and Washington State. On first…

Dragonfly-inspired nanotechnology in the fight against disease

After almost a year of dousing ourselves in hand sanitiser we are all well aware of the importance of disinfectants in the fight to control the spread of COVID-19. However, scientists at the Imperial College of London are investigating other means of killing pathogens without the use of harsh chemicals. Just like the COVID-19 virus,…

Top Hertfordshire Dragonfly Site Criminally Destroyed

Police and the Environment Agency are currently investigating the destruction of two protected ponds at Smallford Pits Local Wildlife Site near Saint Albans. Local residents were left aghast after discovering that the ponds at their treasured wildlife hotspot had been polluted, with either diesel or petrol, in December 2020. Earlier in September, of the same…