21/03/25 New National Forest, Biosecurity at the border, farming medicinal cannabis.
England is to have a new National Forest. The Western Forest will be planted across Bristol, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset. It's the first national forest in 30 years. The government is putting £7.5 million towards it, with the same amount expected from the private sector and charities. The aim is to plant 2,500 hectares of woodland by 2030 and more by 2050. The National Forest chief executive says it won't be created at the expense of farmland.Biosecurity at our borders is a big issue. As we've previously reported, port health authorities have warned that the post-Brexit checking system isn't working and illegal meat is being smuggled into the country. A member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health's port health expert panel says there isn't enough money and the system is under pressure. A chemist and tomato grower have pooled their expertise to set up a cannabis farm in the English countryside. It's a high-tech £26 million greenhouse that is licensed by the Home Office to grow medicinal cannabis for the pharmaceutical industry, and its technology means it can harvest cannabis flowers 52 weeks of the year.Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Rebecca Rooney
England is to have a new National Forest. The Western Forest will be planted across Bristol, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset. It's the first national forest in 30 years. The government is putting £7.5 million towards it, with the same amount expected from the private sector and charities. The aim is to plant 2,500 hectares of woodland by 2030 and more by 2050. The National Forest chief executive says it won't be created at the expense of farmland.
Biosecurity at our borders is a big issue. As we've previously reported, port health authorities have warned that the post-Brexit checking system isn't working and illegal meat is being smuggled into the country. A member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health's port health expert panel says there isn't enough money and the system is under pressure.
A chemist and tomato grower have pooled their expertise to set up a cannabis farm in the English countryside. It's a high-tech £26 million greenhouse that is licensed by the Home Office to grow medicinal cannabis for the pharmaceutical industry, and its technology means it can harvest cannabis flowers 52 weeks of the year.
Presenter: Charlotte Smith Producer: Rebecca Rooney
