Many invasive species cause (often major) problems around the world. However, the idea that all “alien” species are inherently bad, and that invasions can be always effectively controlled, is mistaken. Invasive non-native species are frequently associated with damage to ecological systems and even to people and economies. Yet ecological novelty is now the order of the day, we we must adapt both our ideas and our actions to this new reality.

Ella Kissi-Debrah died in London in February 2013, aged only nine years old, having been unwell with respiratory disease requiring multiple hospital admissions for several years.

Peatlands were once widespread throughout the UK but their place in history has now largely been forgotten. Most of the debate around using natural habitats to draw down carbon from the atmosphere concerns planting trees and reforestation, some ecologists argue that a far better solution lies in restoring the peatlands that people have spent centuries draining and destroying.