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More than 5,000 of England’s most sensitive, rare and protected natural habitats are at high risk of being destroyed by development under Labour’s new planning bill, according to legal analysis of the legislation.

The Guardian has examined the threat the bill poses to 5,251 areas known as nature’s “jewels in the crown”, as some of the country’s most respected wildlife charities call for a key part of the bill to be scrapped.

The areas at risk from Labour’s planning changes include cherished landscapes such as the New Forest, the Surrey heaths, the Peak District moors, and the Forest of Bowland.

A new Environment Agency research project has seen 22,914 rare and protected glass eels swap the River Severn for a new home in the Berkshire this month.

The eels were transferred in late April to nine locations on the Kennet chalk stream by Environment Agency fisheries specialists, initiating a research project that will monitor their development.

One of the largest river restoration projects ever seen in the UK is now under way in Northumberland. The River Breamish, in the north of the county, has seen its path straightened over "many centuries" to make way for intensive farming.

This has meant the river has "disconnected" from its floodplain, reducing freshwater species and increasing flood risk. The new project aims to reinstate the "meandering" river system to the lower Breamish Valley.

The project is being led by the LIFE WADER nature-recovery project in partnership with the Environment Agency, Tweed Forum, Natural England and local landowner, Harehope Estate. Organisers say the work will bring "huge benefits for wildlife, ecology and man".

The UK's oldest wild White-tailed Eagle has died aged 32, RSPB Scotland has announced.

The eagle, a female named Frisa, hatched in Mull in 1992, where she spent almost three decades raising chicks, becoming a regular on TV nature programmes.

She was the daughter of Blondie, who successfully raised the first White-tailed Eagle chick to fledge in Scotland following the reintroduction of the species in 1975.

A new law which is intended to protect nature and reverse the loss of wildlife has been introduced by the Welsh government.

If passed in the Senedd, it will allow members of the public to challenge organisations in Wales, including councils, on environmental issues such as water pollution.

Public bodies in Wales will also be forced to publish nature recovery action plans, with targets set by the Welsh government.

More than 14,000 hectares of degraded peatlands have been restored across Scotland in the last year, helping to reduce carbon emissions and restore biodiversity.

Peatlands are areas of wet land that support habitats and species that are important for biodiversity, they also protect the wider ecosystem by improving water quality and reducing the severity of flooding.

Covering nearly two million hectares, Scotland is home to two-thirds of the UK’s peatlands. However, nearly three-quarters of Scotland’s peatlands is currently degraded.

Conservationists are celebrating the resurgence of the lady’s-slipper orchid, one of Britain’s rarest wildflowers, with the discovery of the first new plant in the wild in almost a century.

The striking flower, which once teetered on the brink of extinction in the English countryside, may one day be restored across its former range, experts have said.

Driven to near-extinction by Victorian plant hunters and habitat loss, the lady’s-slipper orchid was believed to have disappeared from the UK by the early 20th century.

Scotland's seabird populations are continuing to decline, according to new figures released by NatureScot.

Since regular monitoring began in 1986, overall seabird numbers have dropped sharply, with current populations around Scotland's coasts now estimated at roughly half of 1986 levels. However, short-term trends suggest that certain species may be beginning to stabilise, although still at considerably reduced numbers.

The findings are detailed in the latest Scottish Biodiversity Indicator for Seabirds, compiled by NatureScot using data from the UK Seabird Monitoring Programme. Scotland is home to 24 breeding seabird species, with the indicator tracking breeding numbers for 11 species and breeding success for 12.

A project aimed at helping to boost the number of rare corncrake birds on Rathlin Island is among those receiving 40 million euro (£33.7 million) of funding.

The Peaceplus funding has been awarded to projects designed to assist biodiversity and nature recovery in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.

It is anticipated the funding will benefit a wide range of habitats and species, address carbon storage and water regulation.

Kielder Forest's first osprey chicks of the year have hatched as wildlife experts aim to equal the site's record year.

Five chicks have hatched at nests in the Northumberland forest earlier this week, despite "less than ideal" weather conditions of wind and rain. Three of the chicks have hatched in Nest 7, and two more are in nest 1A.

Visit Kielder said that there have already been some "excellent" parenting skills on show from the birds of prey, and that they will grow steadily thanks to the reservoir's steady supply of rainbow trout.

Almost 900 miles of coastline in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are now protected for the nation thanks to the generosity of the UK public, the National Trust has announced.

As a result of new detailed mapping, the charity can reveal that it looks after 896 miles of coast, over 10% of the total coastline of the three countries, on behalf of the nation.

The news comes on the 60th anniversary of the Trust's major coast campaign, Enterprise Neptune, which is one of the longest-running environmental campaigns in Europe, and regarded as among the most successful endeavours in the charity's 130-year history.

A wildlife conservation charity has celebrated an “explosion” in numbers of one of Scotland’s fastest-declining butterflies, with surprisingly high counts in various Highland locations.

More than 500 small blues were counted in just an hour and a half by a volunteer for national charity Butterfly Conservation at the Balnagown Estate near Invergordon, while other volunteers have discovered two new colonies of the species — one south of Wick and one at Nairn Railway Station.

Another volunteer recorded a small blue on 30 April — only the second time Small Blue has been recorded in April in Scotland.