DEFRA

The UK government is about to deregulate gene editing – so what just happened?

The public has this year become more literate about disease control. It is time for better scrutiny of the UK badger culling strategy.

Unseated Zac Goldsmith confirmed as a Minister of State (unpaid) at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

'Fireworks and bonfire celebrations can sometimes lead to temporarily increased levels of air pollution'.

Theresa Villiers backed fracking, but calls for action on climate change and spoke out against Heathrow expansion.

Environment Agency report on water companies found serious pollution incidents in England increased.

Environment secretary Michael Gove warns time is running out - as Extinction Rebellion holds 'summer rebellion'.

Conservation groups are to renew efforts to persuade the UK government to ban imports of animal parts killed by trophy hunters.

The major UK supermarkets and food companies have signed a pledge to help halve food waste by 2030.

But John McDonnell, Labour's shadow chancellor, invites Extinction Rebellion activists to address the shadow cabinet.

Infractions against Marine Protected Areas in Northumberland don't bode well for post-Brexit fishing regulations.

The government has quietly abandoned efforts to meet a longstanding target to improve England’s most important wildlife sites

Pesticides remain the 'elephant in the room' for Michael Gove, the environment secretary, and DEFRA. But until the issue is properly addressed the environmental crisis and fears for human health will only continue, argues GEORGINA DOWNS

The government has launched a consultation on the creation of a green watchdog. But there are serious concerns that the latest headline-grabbing plan from Michael Gove will be seriously lacking in legal punch. TOM WEST from ClientEarth reports

The government’s consultation on future farming policy in England ended last week. Many see it as a unique opportunity to make some positive changes - not least in the provision of information about differences in quality and production systems, says PETER MELCHETT of the Soil Association

The number of elephants has declined by almost a third in the last decade - and as many as 55 African elephants a day are killed for their ivory. Now the UK government is getting tough on poaching by banning the sale of ivory. CATHERINE HARTE reports

The British Ecological Society's Agricultural Ecology Group this week releases its recommendations for the future of farming as the UK plans to exit the European Union. It found significant common ground between ecologists and agriculturists. STEVE PEEL reports

The restoration of life and the end of extinctions. Good land management plans for every country. The end of ocean plastics. No more pesticides. Is all this too ambitious for a Christmas wish list? RUTH DAVIS of the RSPB does not think so.

England's 2013 badger culls collapsed in chaos - a severe blow to Owen Paterson and his Department, Defra. Now Lesley Docksey lifts the lid on the disgraceful fiasco to expose Paterson's fantasy world of 'science' ...

In her third and final analysis of the ongoing UK badger cull Lesley Docksey examines the official figures and finds their validity questionable......

One government department raises awareness about endangered species whilst another uses our fuel bills to contribute to their demise. Helen Buckland, Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society, explains...

UK opposition to restricting the use of pesticides in the 1990s and 00s has at times even seen the intervention of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to lobby the case for the farming industry

Show the government you support the creation of a marine conservation network to protect the UK's threatened sea life