News

Police have arrested two activists taking part in a protest against an open cast coal mine in County Durham. Campaigners claim the eviction could collapse tunnels and injure protesters inside. CATHERINE EARLY reports

Frankincense is harvested from Boswellia carterii trees and provides vital income for Somaliland. But over-harvesting is threatening the future of the crop. Now a new test is being developed so that responsible buyers can tell whether the frankincense they sources is from sustainable forest. KATIE DANCEY-DOWNS of The Lush Times reports

Icelandic fishermen will resume their hunt for the endangered fin whale this summer with a target of 191 kills for the season. This is despite a recent poll of Icelanders showing a decline in support for whale hunting. CATHERINE HARTE reports

The European Union's top court ruled today that increased logging in Białowieża broke EU nature laws. The Polish government must now reverse decisions that allowed logging, or face fines of up to tens of millions of euros. CATHERINE EARLY reports

The Indigenous Women’s Divestment Delegation is travelling to Europe on April 20 to call on banks and financial institutions to withdraw funding from extractive industries that threaten their environment and way of life. The delegation is being facilitated by the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network. BRENDAN MONTAGUE reports

The success of Blue Planet II has transformed Britain into a country were millions of people are extremely concerned about the impact plastics are having on our marine and local environments. Scientists have now announced that they have discovered an enzyme that can break down this waste so it can be more easily recycled, writes BRENDAN MONTAGUE

The future of UK fisheries depends on a government white paper which is due this Spring. This will decide whether Britain will regulate fishing properly and sustainably after Brexit. ClientEarth, the environmental lawyers, argues this is essential for the future of marine life, writes BRENDAN MONTAGUE

A Dispatches investigation has uncovered evidence of hardwood forests being chopped down to provide 'green energy' for the UK. Experts say unique habitats rich in wildlife are under threat as Britain’s power stations switch from burning coal to wood, writes BRENDAN MONTAGUE

Sheffield City Council signed a 25-year PFI highways’ maintenance contract with Amey, owned by Ferrovial, for £2.1bn in 2012. Now Amey is chopping down almost half of the city's street trees. Is this to cut costs, or are these trees 'dangerous, dead, diseased, dying, damaging or discriminatory'? PAUL MILES investigates

Colombia has recognised the autonomy of indigenous communities across the Amazon through a new decree - described as the most important step for Amazon indigenous rights in 30 years. BRENDAN MONTAGUE reports

Ogeto Mwebi, a senior research scientist at the Department of Zoology of the National Museums of Kenya and Nduhiu Gitahi, the chief technologist at the Department of Public Health, Pharmacology & Toxicology based at Nairobi University are attempting now to uncover the mystery behind two man eating lions from more than a century ago. CURTIS ABRAHAM investigates

The wildlife conservation charity World Land Trust (WLT) is urgently raising funds to protect tropical forest in the Amazonian Andes of Ecuador, where hundreds of species are threatened by plans to build a road that would lead to habitat destruction. BRENDAN MONTAGUE reports

Charities including WWF, the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts are joining together to campaign for legislation on the environment - similar to the Climate Change Act - writes CATHERINE EARLY

A team of 30 researchers, technicians, and surveyors will board the S.A Agulhas II for an expedition to the Weddell Sea - a potential Marine Protected Area - next year. Dr John Shears, co-leader of the expedition, will be joined by his team at a launch event in London tonight. LAURA BRIGGS reports

Today, 85 percent of the UK opposes hunting. Earlier this year Theresa May, the prime minister, backtracked on giving parliament a vote on overturning the fox hunting ban. Yet illegal hunting is still taking place. The animal welfare group League Against Cruel Sports now says the Hunting Act needs to be strengthened. CATHERINE HARTE reports

Scientists say there is a growing urgency to understand how affected forests may or may not recover as forest fires increase in frequency. A team from the Smithsonian Institute has come up with a mathematical model which they say will help identify the forest areas most at risk. CATHERINE HARTE has the story

Surfers against Sewage is calling on volunteers to take part in what they say will be one of the biggest ever beach cleans covering over 500 communities - in the wake of a recent government report which projected that ocean plastic is set to treble by 2025. CATHERINE HARTE reports

An intense war is being fought between woody vines and native trees in fragmented rainforests, according to new research. The chopping down of rainforest is exacerbating the problem and could lead to significant changes in the ecology and dynamics of these tropical eco-systems, reports CATHERINE HARTE

Krill is one of the most important species in the Antarctic food web but Greenpeace says stocks are being plundered to be used in products such as krill oil and Omega-3 tablets which are sold on the shelves of some of the UK's biggest retailers. CATHERINE HARTE reports

A new report by Transparency International reinforces long-standing concerns that the shipping industry has undue influence over the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which is meeting in London over the next two weeks to discuss climate change. CLAIRE JAMES reports

'Clean eating' may be one of the latest dietary trends - but researchers in the US have discovered that for people who eat out regularly, their food may not only be less than healthy, but could also contain harmful chemicals. CATHERINE HARTE reports

Internal documents unearthed by Jelmer Mommers of De Correspondent show oil company Shell knew about the danger of burning fossil fuels for climate change as early as the 1980s. MAT HOPE from DeSmog.uk has the story

The impact of human behaviour on the environment is well documented but now it seems man has become an evolutionary force in the lives of female Scandinavian brown bears as they change parenting tactics to ward off hunters. CATHERINE HARTE reports

Friends of the Earth Amsterdam - supported by its international organisation - is threatening to take Shell to court. But unlike any other legal challenge, they are not asking for compensation. The charity claims this will limit the company's investments in fossil fuels. BRENDAN MONTAGUE reports