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Everyone from small farms to McDonald’s is getting involved in regenerative agriculture. Could it point the way to a better future for farming?A pheasant struts around the Garden of Eden. The pheasant is, well, a pheasant, a male, with those long, jaunty tail feathers; the Garden of Eden is the semi-serious name given by Dan Cox, a 39-year-old chef turned farmer, to a patch...

Walkers and cyclists defy closure of Ash Ranges they say is illegal under 1876 grant to armed forcesRod Johnson has walked around Ash Ranges all his life. On a few days each month, the ancient woodland is closed to the public so soldiers from Aldershot barracks can practise at the firing ranges. Related: Ministry of Defence under fire for ‘inventing rules’ to sell wildlife...

Discovering new recipes and getting the children on board helped us break old habits and eat better for the planet and our healthLike many families, we’ve discussed the environmental and animal-welfare impact of the meat we eat and resolved we should do better. I wouldn’t say we are massive meat-eaters – especially since cookbooks by the Guardian’s own Anna Jones and Meera Sodha entered...

Former Bank chief says governments must act as free markets will not reduce emissions aloneGovernments must step up their regulation of businesses to tackle the climate crisis, the former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has urged, because the financial free markets will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions alone.Carney, who left the Bank of England last year before the first Covid-19 lockdown, is now...

Campaigners criticise European Commission strategy that allows continued burning of trees for fuelThe EU executive has been accused of “sacrificing forests” after it published proposals that would allow trees to continue to be burned for fuel.The charges of “accelerating climate breakdown” through wood-burning were made on Friday as the European Commission unveiled its forest strategy, which includes a goal to plant 3bn trees across...

At least 110 people have died in devastating floods across parts of western Germany and Belgium. Search and rescue operations are continuing with hundreds still unaccounted forMore than 100 dead as flood ‘catastrophe’ hits Germany and Belgium Continue reading...

Fears of growing urban/rural divide as workers take to tractors to protest against measures they say are unfairThousands of farmers have descended on dozens of towns and cities across New Zealand in their tractors in a nationwide protest against a swathe of new environmental regulations.The Howl of a Protest event was tipped to be the largest of its kind for the rural sector, with...

At least 58 people have died and dozens more were missing in Germany on Thursday as swollen rivers caused by record rainfall across western Europe swept through towns and villages. Many of the victims died around the wine-growing region of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate state, police said, and dozens were still unaccounted for, after the Ahr river that flows into the Rhine broke its banks...

Buildings gave way in Rhineland area of Schuld bei Adenau amid heavy rain and once-in-a-generation floodingHeavy rain and once-in-a-generation floods has caused the collapse of six houses in Germany’s western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, leaving several people missing and many stranded on rooftops.Earlier reports by broadcaster SWR said around 30 people were missing and about 25 more homes were at risk of collapse in the...

Only 10% of $17tn global bailout directed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and restoring nature, report findsTrillions of dollars poured into rescuing economies around the world from the Covid-19 crisis have been spent in ways that worsen the climate crisis and harm nature because governments have failed to fulfil promises of a “green recovery” from the pandemic.Only about a tenth of the $17tn in...

Health officials face anger over hours-long delay before notifying public of dangerSeventeen million gallons of untreated sewage were discharged into California’s Santa Monica Bay between Sunday evening and early Monday morning, spurring beach closures, as well as criticism of how health officials notified the public about potential safety risks.The problems came to a head at Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, located in the Playa del...

As scorching temperatures spread, the search for ways to protect against heat stress is becoming ever more urgentWilliam Martínez, who as a child worked on a sugarcane plantation in rural Nicaragua, learned the hard way what many in the US and Canada are now realising: that rising temperatures are costing lives and livelihoods.Martínez, along with fellow villagers in La Isla, found himself getting sicker...

About 800,000 hectares of forest destroyed so far in region enveloped by smoke as Russia suffers through ‘abnormal heatwave’Russia’s army has sent water-bombing planes to support thousands of firefighters battling huge wildfires in Siberia, a region known for its frozen tundra that is now sweltering under a heatwave.Flames are tearing across 800,000 hectares of forest, and the hardest-hit region of Yakutia in the north...

Welcome to our monthly roundup of the biggest issues in farming and food production, with must-read reports from around the webThe European Commission has committed to table a proposal to phase out the use of cages in farming by the end of 2023, with the aim of enforcing the ban from 2027. It comes after the EU parliament passed a non-binding vote in favour...

Wildfires in several states are burning with worrying ferocity across a tinder-dry landscapeAs fires propagate throughout the US west on the heels of record heatwaves, experts are warning that the region is caught in a vicious feedback cycle of extreme heat, drought and fire, all amplified by the climate crisis.Firefighters are battling blazes from Arizona to Washington state that are burning with a worrying...

Protein-rich seaweed has dropped off British menus. Now an innovative Pembrokeshire group is leading a renaissance rooted in Welsh historyFrom the surfing beach of Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire, it is just a short walk to a small restored hut that stands alone on the southern cliff, where local forager, chef and entrepreneur Jonathan Williams gazes down at the rocks below.“It’s part of the Welsh DNA,...

State officials report ‘unprecedented’ deaths due to starvation as pollution and algal blooms take tollMore manatees have died already this year than in any other year in Florida’s recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds, state officials have said.The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission reported that 841 manatee deaths were recorded between 1 January and 2 July, breaking...

Authorities reclassify animal as vulnerable with a population outside captivity of 1,800Giant pandas are no longer endangered in the wild, but they are still vulnerable with a population outside captivity of 1,800, Chinese officials have said after years of conservation efforts.The head of the environment ministry’s department of nature and ecology conservation, Cui Shuhong, said the reclassification was the result of “improved living conditions...