A landmark moment for nature in Scotland

New laws for nature At the end of January, after three days of debate in the chamber, the Scottish Parliament passed the Natural Environment Bill. This will see targets for nature recovery put into law, meaning that future governments can be held accountable. But there’s still a lot of work to be done.  By Juliet …

How we Lost Touch with Nature

From the Finding Nature blog, by Professor Miles Richardson. Posted on August 11, 2025  Over the past few years, I’ve often written about our failing relationship with nature. It’s now recognised that this issue lies at the heart of the environmental crises, but how do we solve it? What if we could simulate how that disconnection occurred? What if …

The consequences of oppressing diversity

By Philip A Loring. Published 4th April 2025, The Ecologist. Featured image shows the ‘wooly devil’, a plant discovered last year, from a previously unknown genus in the daisy family. Credit NPS / D. Manley / Press Release. Communities are working to revive diversity and resilience by re-localising food systems, decentralising governance, and restoring traditional …

Encounter: Unlocking Nature Connection Through Words

Posted on April 17, 2025 by Miles Richardson The app Encounter has launched. It is a guided nature journal that lives on your phone, designed to help you notice what’s around you and deepen your connection to nature. The app offers inspiration and ideas tailored to your area and the time of year so that you can create your own …

Natural Environment Bill – A lifeline for Scotland’s Biodiversity?

Published by RSPB Scotland, 27th February 2025. Featured image by Gary Ellis on Unsplash. Major new legislation for nature in Scotland is a rare opportunity – at most, it comes around once in a decade. We know all too well that Scotland’s nature is struggling, and urgent action is needed to save treasured species – from …

Nature matters for Mental Health

Published on the RSPB Scottish Nature Notes website, by Molly Martin 4th August 2024. Featured image credit David Duarte Crespo on Unsplash First Minister John Swinney is drawing up his legislative priorities for the year ahead, and there is hope that his Programme for Government due in early September will include a commitment to bring forward …

An Irvine home for The Nature Library

A Permanent Home for the Nature Library  Posted on Caught by the River 26th May 2024 The Scottish Maritime Museum on Irvine Harbourside has collaborated with The Nature Library to create a permanent home for the innovative and, until now, touring pop-up collection of land and environment writings. The Nature Library, which was founded in …

Nature’s Calendar

Published on the Caught by the River website, 7th March 2024. Featured image credit P Finlay. The Woodland Trust and British Science Week (8th-17th March) seek new volunteer phenologists to update Nature’s Calendar, an almost 300-year-old tradition to track nature’s changing events. Phenology is the study of seasonal changes in plants and animals from year to …