Seagrass planting pilot starts on Germany’s Baltic coast

Field of seagrass.

Sept. 3, 2026 – The Rewilding Oder Delta conservation group began planting seagrass meadows on Germany’s Baltic coast this summer as part of a pilot project, a first step towards restoring one of the most valuable ecosystems in the Baltic Sea. The initiative uses a technique developed by German company ZosteraTec in which young plants are first established on biodegradable textile ropes made of old seagrass, with the ropes then rolled out across the seabed. Similar to laying turf, the…

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Three new wolf packs confirmed in Switzerland’s Grisons canton

Photo of two wolves.

August 19, 2026 – Three new wolf packs were confirmed in the Swiss canton of Grisons, or Graubünden, in the first half of August, the canton’s hunting and fisheries office said. In the Lower Engadine area in the east of the canton, wildlife officers confirmed through observations the formation of a new pack with at least three wolf pups, named the Giarsinom pack, as well as another with at least five pups, named the Madlain pack, the office said on…

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Bulgaria records most Egyptian vulture chicks in nearly 20 years

Picture of Egyptian vulture

July 23, 2026 – Bulgaria’s population of Egyptian vultures had its best breeding season in nearly 20 years, with 35 hatched chicks recorded, according to the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. The number of hatched chicks is the highest recorded since 2008, with one breeding pair of Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) still incubating, the BSPB said on July 23. The number of breeding pairs in Bulgaria remained broadly stable at 36 pairs, one fewer than in 2025 and…

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Germany’s white stork breeding population reaches record high

White stork returning to its nest.

July 20, 2026 – Germany has more white stork breeding pairs this year than it did a century ago, with the number across the country expected to exceed 15,000 pairs this season, according to Naturschutzbund Deutschland, the largest German environmental association. The number of white stork (Ciconia ciconia) breeding pairs is the highest since the start of systematic records, NABU said in a July 20 statement. Unlike many other species, the white stork now has a favourable conservation status, according…

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First Eurasian lynx cubs born in Germany’s Black Forest in 200 years

Examination of a lynx cub.

July 18, 2026 – At least two Eurasian lynx cubs have been born in the Black Forest in southwestern Germany for the first time in around 200 years, following the release of female lynx in recent years in an ongoing reintroduction programme, the state of Baden-Württemberg said. Genetic testing of hair collected from an abandoned den confirmed DNA from Verena, a female Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) released in the northern Black Forest in November 2024, together with a cub, the…

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Scotland to tag sea eagle chicks to assess predation on lambs

Photo of white-tailed eagle.

July 18 – Scottish scientists will fit GPS trackers to up to 35 white-tailed eagle chicks over the next two years to help assess the extent of sea eagle predation on lambs and sheep, according to government nature agency NatureScot. Licensed ornithologists will fit the GPS tags to the chicks of Scotland’s largest bird of prey at around eight weeks old, before they leave the nest from around 10 weeks of age, NatureScot said on July 17. The trackers can…

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Belgium’s sandwich tern population rises to highest in more than 40 years

Photo of sandwich tern

July 17, 2026 – Belgium’s North Sea port of Zeebrugge is again home to Western Europe’s largest breeding colonies of both sandwich terns and common terns, according to the Flemish agency for nature and forest. The Flemish Research Institute Nature and Forest (INBO) counted 7,248 occupied nests of sandwich terns (Thalasseus sandvicensis) on the artificial tern-breeding peninsula in the outer harbour of the port of Zeebrugge in its latest monitoring, Agentschap Natuur & Bos said on July 16. INBO also…

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Dutch wildlife groups cheer proposal for multi-channel Rhine system

The Waal River (left) and the Spiegelwaal side channel near Nijmegen

July 16, 2026 – Wildlife groups welcomed a Dutch government plan to develop a system of side channels on the Waal River, the main distributary of the Rhine River in the Netherlands. The Living Rivers coalition said the proposal could help create a more natural river, while Mammal Protection Netherlands said the plan could establish new habitat for species including otters. The multi-channel system could either be developed as a nature-led restoration project or as a more technical engineering solution,…

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