London's Thames, once biologically dead, has been coming back to life
<a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/biodiversity-indicators/about-the-biodiversity-intactness-index/using-the-biodiversity-intactness-index.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/biodiversity-indicato...</a><p>>'The UK is one of the most depleted countries in the world in terms of biodiversity. The Natural History Museum has calculated an index of biodiversity intactness. Using this measure of the health of our natural environment, we rank 189th in the world, and we are bottom of the G7 countries. In the past 10 years, 41% of our bird species have decreased and 15% of our wildlife is threatened with extinction.<p>>'The dreadful state of our nature is at least in part a result of living in a densely populated country in which nearly three-quarters of our land is used for farming or the built environment. We have simply squeezed nature out of its home.'<p>>Lord Krebs, zoologist and Member of the House of Lords, in the debate on the Environment Bill, 10 June 2021<p>It's great that the Thames is improving, and the recent stuff about the wild bees is amazing, but these stories lack the wider context.