Hot off the press, Natural England has just published its much-anticipated "Reptile Mitigation Guidelines".

The Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM) has just published a set of guidance notes to advise wildlife surveyors and other practitioners on the skills needed for species surveys. The new notes - called “Competencies for Species Survey (CSS) Guidance" - have been a year in the making, and are the result of consultation with practitioners, conservation NGOs and SNCOs.

A new Code has been produced for dealing with stranded turtles found on UK coastlines. The code is produced by a partnership including the Marine Conservation Society and the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. The Code advises anyone who finds a stranded marine turtle on what to do, who to report it to, and who to get emergency assistance from.

Forty-eight years since Rachel Carson's seminal book "Silent Spring" awoke the world to the devastation that developed countries were causing to their native wildlife, a new book examines whether things have got any better or worse.