Vicki Hird MSc FRES

What's on | Capital Growth Whats happening around the city in food growing. We want to improve the city’s environment and build local community.

Great bug training here from @capitalgrowth @sustainweb.org www.capitalgrowth.org/whats-on/

Who is watching @BBC2 #BigCats24\7 for the huge termite mounds? So impressive.
Yeh the cats are nice.

A wet 7-spot ladybird

A wet 7-spot ladybird

The sea is higher than we thought and millions more are at risk, study finds A new study in the journal Nature says most sea level rise research may have underestimated coastal water heights by an average of 1 foot or about 30 centimeters.

Climate change’s rising seas may threaten tens of millions more people than scientists and government planners originally thought because of mistaken research assumptions on how high coastal waters already are.
By @borenbears.bsky.social & Annika Hammerschlag @apnews.com apnews.com/article/sea-...

Protect caterpillars as UK’s moth population plummets, urge charities Instead of removing plant-munching caterpillars, gardeners asked to take relaxed attitude to support the moths many of them grow into

In the guardian today asking gardeners to take the tiny hit from a few caterpillars.. Avoid pesticides, use manual removal, physical barriers and pruning. To help restore moth populations. It's not too much to ask.
@the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Tech firms and AI farming tools ‘playing with the food system’, warns thinktank Google, Microsoft and Amazon among companies using algorithms and AI to influence what crops are grown and how, say critics

New report on flaws in big tech promises focussed on a few commodity crops and food companies not health, farmer & ecosystem resilience
"digital tools are portrayed as innovative and so easily attract the attention of policymakers and investors" @IPESfood
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Farming Today - 26/02/26 The Farming Minister and reaction to the updated environmental farm payment scheme in England; illegal waste dumping - BBC Sounds The farming minister on changes to England's biggest environmental scheme.

The Wildlife Trusts' Vicki Hird @vickihird.bsky.social featuring on BBC Radio 4's Farming Today (from 07:43) www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The Iranian regime is objectively hideous. It murders & incarcerates innocent people, threatens & attacks sovereign neighbours, routinely breaks international law, outlaws dissent & crushes free speech.
Can you see the problem with *Donald Trump & Benjamin Netanyahu* leading the attack on them?

Hi Lydia great to meet. Have you written up any if the work you found out on the hand? Been talking to friends and would love to share blog or some such?

Was great fun!

Please join us at 4pm today for a seminar with the fantastic @vickihird.bsky.social. You can sign up to attend online or in person (at the Oxford Martin School). Sign up sheet below.

Me talking about bug comms to nerdy folk. Fun. Great, difficult questions . Reminds me i dont know so much more than i know.. as per...

Chalk streams are the jewels in our national heritage. Today I'm presenting a bill to require the Government to nominate chalk streams for UNESCO's Natural World Heritage Status
@the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social
#ClimateAndNature
#naturerecovery
#chalkstream

Oil pollution in UK waters far worse than reported, says conservation group ‘Opaque’ recording system means recorded volume of everyday oil pollution over the past decade should be increased by 43%, according to Oceana report

A lot of UK oil extraction is done out at sea, out of sight, out of mind. @oceanauk.bsky.social works to raise awareness of the harm oil pollution is causing to wildlife in our waters.

share.google/YUtRuZNar5Bv...

Housing sector leaders call for action to fill empty homes Estimates suggest more than a million homes in England are currently unoccupied.

"Estimates suggest more than a million homes in England are currently unoccupied, with over 309,000 of those classed as long-term empty."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Will the Government's good food cycle deliver results? Future of Food seminars: Vicki Hird

On Thursday we have @vickihird.bsky.social talking at the Oxford Martin School about the Government's good food cycle.

Sign up link for online or in-person below. @oxfutureoffood.bsky.social @oxmartinschool.bsky.social

www.futureoffood.ox.ac.uk/event/future...

Dirty Business Shocking real-life drama about the muck in our water and a corporate scandal

Another great docu drama.. About terrible, slightly*unbelievable governance failures in water treatment and appalling company behaviour.
💦 💩
#DirtyBusiness @channel4tv.bsky.social
*but its all true😣
www.channel4.com/programmes/d...

#GoodNews - great outcomes when you put farmers in control in the #FoodSystem, rather than corporations

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

How an annual ‘wedding flight’ of 1,000 virgin queens is ensuring the revival of Europe’s dark bee The Belgian ceremony attracts beekeepers from the Netherlands, France and Germany keen to boost dark bee numbers and stop the spread of the hybrid honeybee

Why we need to save the European dark bee - a native honeybee very suited to our flowers and climate but so threatened by cross breeding with the hybrid honey bee bred for honey www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Yep!

Angel shades moth caterpillars everywhere.. Who can spot the photobomb bug 😉

Description of 3 talks next week

3 talks next week😁 Do join me..see pic
1) 24th trees n bees
🔗 eventbrite.com/e/1977367740140
2) 25th nerdy Bug talk🐛 (in N16) www.designmynight.com/london/whats...
3)26th Gov food strategy www.futureoffood.ox.ac.uk/event/future...

'Bid to buy Rothbury Estate as divisive as Brexit' Funds are being raised to buy the Northumberland estate - but the plans have split opinion.

Fixed that headline for you:

‘One (1) farmer who farms 1,000 acres doesn’t like rewilding, we’ve made that the basis of our headline in a classic example of false balance.

PS everyone else in the story loves the idea of the Wildlife Trusts buying the Rothbury Estate’

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

The business case for biodiversity In Manchester this week, governments endorsed a report that tries to do something business has long resisted: treat biodiversity as economically material. The new assessment from the…

[FOUNDER'S BRIEF - @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social]

IPBES warns biodiversity loss is a systemic economic risk. Yet $7.3T a year still funds nature-harming activities — far more than conservation.

Without reform, profit stays misaligned with the ecosystems the economy depends on.

a poster that says hug from a bug with ladybugs around a heart ALT: a poster that says hug from a bug with ladybugs around a heart

Get your tickets now to see the wonderful @vickihird.bsky.social explain why insects deserve more love at Feb #NerdNite

Will the Government's good food cycle deliver results? Future of Food seminars: Vicki Hird

We are looking forward to welcoming @vickihird.bsky.social next week for our Future of Food seminar. Vicki will be exploring food and farming policy in the UK. Join us in person at the @oxmartinschool.bsky.social or online. Open to all.

Bookings: www.futureoffood.ox.ac.uk/event/future...

💬"When you risk our natural ecosystems, you risk everything that creates a stable civilisation." ⛰️

@vickihird.bsky.social from @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social reacts to the latest DEFRA Natural Security Assessment on Global #Biodiversity Loss.

Read the full blog ➡️ ow.ly/YKvv50YclXZ

It's official: Ecosystem security is national security - Agricology Vicki Hird from the Wildlife Trust reacts to the latest UK National Security Assessment covering ecosystem loss and biodiversity collapse.

my blog for
@agricology.bsky.social
on the alarming but vital report on national security related to ecosystem harm. From conflics & political stability to food security and health- ecosystems 100% matter
Need full report & action on its findings -without delay
agricology.co.uk/blog/ecosyst...

Ipbes report: Nature loss could spell extinction for businesses - BBC News Experts call for urgent action by businesses to restore the natural systems that keep them running.

"assessment, by Ipbes (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services)... based on contributions from leading scientists.. approved by 150 governments" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Ipbes report: Nature loss could spell extinction for businesses