#important-stories

#important-stories

Conservationists in Spain are calling for a profound debate on how best to balance the protection of wildlife with renewable energy demands after efforts to reintroduce endangered bearded vultures to an eastern area of the country had to be paused because of the threat posed by a huge new windfarm.The bearded vulture known in Spanish as the quebrantahuesos, or bone-breaker, because of the way it drops bones from a great height so they shatter and yield their marrow was common across the country until the 20th century, when it was poisoned and hunted to the brink of extinction.

A young activist who campaigned with the climate groups Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil has been found dead after going missing almost a week ago.Xavier Gonzalez-Trimmer, 22, was found in Richmond Park on Monday.Family and friends had been searching the area.He had been a key protester with Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil, and had been arrested 16 times in relation to protest actions, with five hearings on different charges coming up this year.

Sea urchins raised in sea water with high levels of plastic pollution, including fragments collected from a Cornish surfing beach, die from developmental abnormalities, research shows.Scientists placed fertilised urchin eggs in seawater with varying levels of plastic to compare the effects of newly made plastic pellets, or nurdles, with the impacts of high levels of fragments found washed up on Watergate Bay in Cornwall.

The UK government is facing a fresh challenge in the courts over plans to award up to 130 new licences for North Sea oil and gas exploration, in the latest attempt to stop ministers' proposed expansion of the country's fossil fuel production.Three campaign groups have written to the business secretary, Grant Shapps, explaining the grounds on which they consider the latest offshore oil and gas licensing round to be unlawful.

Food security and air quality in the UK are being put at risk by outdated IT systems at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), a parliamentary committee has found.MPs have said the situation cannot continue as officials are having to use paper forms rather than digital systems to track fast-moving animal disease and keep food, air and water safe.

A south London photographer has taken the portraits of members of the Windrush generation to highlight their courageous journeys, which transformed modern Britain.The photo series, called Britain Called and We Answered, interviews and photographs everyday members of the Windrush generation who all have important stories to tell.

Post-Brexit trade deals with Canada and Mexico will include imports of high-carbon beef and low-welfare pork, the Guardian can reveal.There are fears there could be a Conservative party revolt, with the former environment secretary George Eustice raising concerns over low welfare standards for pigs in Canada, and an influential group of Tory MPs and peers gearing up to oppose the deals.

A Conservative MP who received thousands in a donation from a wealthy landowner who took Dartmoor National Park Authority to court has refused to comment on a legal decision that has led to a ban on wild camping in the park.Last week, the right to wild camp in England and Wales was lost after hedge fund manager Alexander Darwall successfully brought a case against Dartmoor national park.