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Numbers of the endangered butterfly, once pronounced extinct in the UK, have reached their highest level in 80 years, according to conservationists

A butterfly once pronounced extinct in the UK has been seen in record numbers this year, according to conservationists.

There were over 10,000 adult large blue butterflies in Gloucestershire and Somerset – the largest concentration of the species known in the world.

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Strathnairn, Highlands Its rich chocolate fur looked luxuriant, and it was easy to see why it was so much prized in the middle ages as a trimming for robes of state

Mid-afternoon, and I watched the pine marten hunting a woodland bank, sniffing and listening for prey such as voles. Above it was ripening the rich crop of rowan berries that would augment its diet in late autumn.

It must have been hungry to be out hunting at this time of day, as pine martens are normally nocturnal. No doubt the poor weather of late had not helped. However, this one – a female, judging from its size – was in good condition, graceful and agile, with its slender body and long, bushy tail. Its rich chocolate fur looked luxuriant and it was easy to see why it was prized in the middle ages as a trimming for robes of state.

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Beyond the coal rush part 1: The march of coal

Tom Morton visits Germany, India and northern NSW where plans are underway for new and bigger coal mines. Local people are fighting back, to save their traditional lands, their ancient villages, animal corridors and rich agricultural lands, all of which are threatened by the ongoing march of coal.

But farmers are concerned they will not be able to protect crops from insects if they cannot use neonicotinoids

Minnesota’s governor on Friday ordered the broadest restrictions yet in a US state on the use of agricultural pesticides that have been blamed for hurting bees, fuelling concerns that farmers there will not be able to protect crops from insects.

Governor Mark Dayton issued an executive order that requires farmers to verify they face “an imminent threat of significant crop loss” before using the chemicals, called neonicotinoids.

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The northern hopping-mouse is a master builder. It's barely big enough to fill the palm of your hand, yet it digs metres worth of burrows with multiple secret entrances AND it cleans up after itself.

US President Barack Obama expands a national monument off Hawaii, creating the world's largest marine reserve.

We're keeping tabs on barramundi; the Yandina farmers market explodes in a riot of colour; we meet a young woman with a passion for her hairy belted galloways; and we do the rounds during lambing time

The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox

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Soldier crabs, a family of brown bears and spotted hyenas are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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A collection of posters created to promote tourism to the national parks is part of the creative legacy of the New Deal developed by Franklin D Roosevelt. Between 1938 and 1941, the Works Progress Administration and its Federal Arts Project designed a series of artworks promoting, and inspired by, the landscapes and wildlife of the parks. The collection is housed in the Library of Congress

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A California biotech company receives funding to commercialise algae-based prawns, in an attempt to get people switching to more sustainable diets

How do you describe the taste and texture of a prawn? Sort of rubbery; elastic, even. Like chicken, only better. These unappetising phrases hardly capture what makes it so good—the precise reason why prawns (called shrimp in the United States) are one of the most consumed seafoods globally. But now biotech startup New Wave Foods is on a mission to mimic the exact texture and taste of a prawn, in a product made entirely out of algae and plant ingredients.

The small, orangey-pink whorls they’ve created look uncannily like the real thing. But what do they taste like? That’s a question for Dominique Barnes, CEO of California-based New Wave Foods. “We’ve done a few blind taste tests—unofficially, you know—and until we tell people it’s made of plants and algae they can’t tell,” says Barnes, who comes from a background in marine conservation.

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Researchers track a particular type of tiny vibration for the first time, as it wobbled through the Earth from the Atlantic to Japan.

Government countryside assessment paints a ‘grim picture’ with key species such as hedgehogs, dormice, birds and butterflies all continuing to decrease in number

Much of England’s best-loved wildlife remains in serious decline, according to the latest official assessment from the government. Birds and butterflies on farmland have continued their long term downward trend and 75% of over 200 “priority” species across the country – including hedgehogs, dormice and moths – are falling in number.

The Natural Environment Indicators for England also showed that water quality has fallen in the last five years, with just one in five rivers and lakes having high or good status, and the amount of time given by conservation volunteers has also fallen.

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Authorities find more than 650 critically endangered pangolins hidden in freezers in Java

Indonesian authorities have seized more than 650 critically endangered pangolins found hidden in freezers and arrested a man for allegedly breaking wildlife protection laws, police said on Friday.

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Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument to be expanded to more than twice the size of Texas

Barack Obama is to create the world’s largest protected marine area off the coast of Hawaii, the White House has said.

The president’s proclamation will quadruple the size of a protected area originally designated by his predecessor, George Bush, in 2006. The expanded Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument will cover around 582,578 sq miles (1.5m sq km), more than twice the size of Texas.

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Shamim Shorif Susom is a pilot and photographer from Bangladesh. As he travels he captures unique aerial views of his country, which he shares on his website

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We really love having you listen to RN but we need to let you know that we’ll be closing our subject podcasts (don’t worry—we aren’t cancelling any shows). To keep hearing stories and interviews from RN, search for your favourite shows in the ABC Radio App or subscribe in your preferred podcasting app.

Airedale, West Yorkshire By early September mating instincts will give way to a territorial urge and this stretch of river won’t be big enough for both birds

They’re still together, but it won’t last. The sycamore keys have started to twirl to earth and a parting of ways is on the cards. Kingfisher pairs seldom outlast the summer; by early September mating instincts will have given way to the territorial urge, and that’ll mean that this stretch of the river won’t be big enough for the both of them.

It’s warm, a bit muggy, and the air is thick with the musty stink of rosebay willowherb. Mallard drakes in their dowdy moult or “eclipse” plumage lounge in sulky gangs on the gravel spit, exiled dukes stripped of their finery.

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Many of Australia's nearest neighbours in the Pacific Islands have far more ambitious renewable energy targets.