Climate Positive News - February 2026

This month's collection of positive climate news stories highlight how Londoners are being enlisted to grow a threatened wildflower, Wales' biggest rewilding project, and the farmers working together on a nature restoration project.

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1. Craftivism will help 'start climate conversations'

A new climate hub, run by Ipswich Umbrella, in an empty town centre shop in Ipswich will hold craftivism sessions and a repair café as a way to engage the community.

The founder, Sue Hagley, said: "It feels really exciting. It's been in my head for about four years... this is something that Ipswich needs."

Craftivism - combining craft and activism - involves using craft and creativity as a form of political expression and social engagement. The term was coined by Betsy Greer, a knitter and anti-sweatshop activist, in 2003.

Find out more on the BBC website.

2. New woodland begins to take root near town

A new woodland is being created in a Devon town as part of work to combat climate change. Forestry England is planting a mixture of trees and shrubs, including broadleaved trees and conifers on the 135-hectare (333-acre) site it has bought in Hatherleigh, near Okehampton.

The site will be known as Fishleigh Wood and the conservation body said it would "absorb carbon from the atmosphere, enhance the local landscape, and provide important habitat for wildlife".

Find out more on the BBC website.

3. Volunteers to help rare wildflower by home growing

Volunteers across London are being enlisted to grow a threatened wildflower vital for bees, butterflies and rare moths, in an effort to stop one of the capital's rarest plants from disappearing.

Conservation group Citizen Zoo launched the project to restore tower mustard, which is thought to survive at only two sites in the capital and about 30 in England.

Find out more on the BBC website.

4. More than 110,000 trees to be planted on estate

185 hectares of new woodland and pasture will be created when 110,000 trees are planted as part of a planting project, near Bridgnorth in Shropshire. It would be one of the biggest in the Midlands, the National Trust said.

The trees are being planted on its Dudmaston Estate, financed by the government's Trees for Climate programme. People living in the area are being invited to take part, with a number of planting events planned.

Find out more on the BBC website.

5. Second wild beaver spotted living at Norfolk nature reserve

Experts previously believed there was only one wild beaver living in Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, about 20 miles outside Norwich. However, just in time for Valentine’s Day earlier this month, two were caught on camera going for a late-night swim together. The couple are the first wild pair to settle in Norfolk since the early 16th century.

Find out more on The Guardian website.

6. Charity buys land for Wales’ biggest rewilding project

The Welsh charity Tir Natur, which was founded in 2022, has bought more than 480 hectares (1,195 acres) at Cwm Doethie in Elenydd, Ceredigion, making it Wales' biggest rewilding project.

The project will restore Cwm Doethie’s natural landscape, which includes rivers, peat bogs and ancient woodland, acting as a carbon sink and reducing the risk of flooding downstream. 

It also aims to encourage the return of red squirrels, pine martens, polecats, curlews and hen harriers, and to create new nature corridors and habitats for beavers and butterflies.

Find out more on The Guardian website. 

7. Farmers launch landscape recovery scheme

A multi-million-pound nature restoration project covering 3,000 hectares of land has launched in the Cotswolds. The Evenlode Landscape Recovery Project, in Oxfordshire, is the third scheme of its kind in England, and will cover an area the size of Cheltenham.

It aims to reconnect floodplains whilst restoring rivers including the Evenlode, the Glyme and the Dorn, and is supported by more than 50 local farmers.

Find out more on the BBC website.

8. Huge tree‑planting project aims to clean up river

Thousands of new trees are going into the hills above the River Erme, in south Devon,  as part of a big push to clean up the water before it reaches Coastguards Beach, a popular swimming spot.

Environment Agency tests in 2024 and 2025, showed the water was not safe for swimmers, so the plan is to plant about 16,000 trees across 190-acre Ramsland Farm near Holbeton to slow and filter water running off the land during heavy rain, as well as provide shelter for livestock.

Find out more on the BBC website.

By Eveline Vouillemin ©