Allendale, Northumberland: A volunteer brought boxes with breathing holes from the rescue centre. I sat and watched the hedgehogs emerge

Honesty is flowering all around the dark pile of leaves. Hellebores, fading from burgundy to antique pink, are creating a screen. Under the leaves a hedgehog is sleeping out the daytime, here in the same place that it spent the winter. This is its hibernaculum made from leaves that I heaped on this border last autumn. Perhaps thanks to my feeding it in November, it has survived the lengthy winter, along with a second hedgehog that nested in the same flowerbed.

Hedgehogs have everything they need in this garden. Plentiful food, water, undisturbed places to shelter and an absence of badgers – their only predators – have made it an ideal habitat. A month ago this garden was chosen as a release site by Northumbrian Hedgehog Rescue, an organisation funded by donations. From the back of a hatchback, volunteer Guy Pearce brought out six large cardboard boxes labelled with the names of their occupants. Each box had breathing holes, bedding, dried food, water and a hedgehog. We took them to quiet parts of the garden and left them there until dusk.

Under instructions, I took out cat food and bowls of water before opening the boxes. A half-moon cast shadows across the garden, bats flew around the roof of the house and tawny owls began calling in the wood. I sat motionless and watched as the most adventurous of the hedgehogs emerged. By morning all the boxes were empty.

It took time for one of the group to settle into the right routine. Houdini, as I named him, would forage in daylight so I would seal him back in a box until evening; he dug his way out of three boxes before emerging later and later. I have no idea how many hedgehogs now live in this garden. They can climb over the drystone walls, but the evidence is there in the morning; black droppings on the paths, a reassuring sight that they are still about.

1. Hedgehogs are disappearing fast – gardeners to the rescue | Patrick Barkham
2. Country diary: Sandy, Bedfordshire: A brief stillness before the damselfly’s short life on the wing would begin
3. Country diary: Cotehele, Tamar Valley: Sid Coombe No 1 among this year’s thick and gorgeous apple blossoms

Scientists say three to six major hurricanes will hit US, some in areas far beyond those typically associated with extreme storms

Americans were warned on Thursday to brace for an extremely active hurricane season – less than a year after the devastation of Sandy, which hit the east coast in October 2012 – with 13 to 20 named storms, including seven to 11 hurricanes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, releasing its annual forecast, said 2013 would be prolific in raising storms out of the Atlantic and Caribbean. Of the predicted hurricanes, Noaa predicted that three to six could be major hurricanes, rated category three and packing winds of 111mph or higher.

Thursday's forecast was well above the average of 12 named storms, eight hurricanes and three major hurricanes. Administration officials also warned that the impacts of those storms – as with Sandy and Irene in 2011 – could be felt in areas far beyond those typically associated with hurricanes and tropical storms.

Sandy killed scores as it made its way across the Caribbean to the north-east US. While it was only a category two storm when it made landfall near Atlantic City in New Jersey, Sandy caused more than $75bn in damage. Lower Manhattan was knocked off the electrical grid for days because of storm surges and coastal communities have yet to recover.

"As we saw first-hand with Sandy, it's important to remember that tropical storm and hurricane impacts are not limited to the coastline. Strong winds, torrential rain, flooding, and tornadoes often threaten inland areas far from where the storm first makes landfall," said Kathryn Sullivan, the acting Noaa administrator.

Noaa scientists said there were three main causes behind the forecast of an extremely active season. They included a continuation of an atmospheric climate pattern, which includes a strong west African monsoon, that has been contributing to high activity during Atlantic hurricane season since the 1990s. Warmer ocean temperatures in the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans, where many storms originate, are also making for stronger storms. Officials said temperatures were on average about 0.8 of one degree fahrenheit above average.

El Niño, which can inhibit storm systems, was not expected to develop during this year's hurricane season. The season runs from 1 June to 1 November.

"There are no mitigating factors that we can see that will suppress the activity," said Gerry Bell, Noaa's lead Atlantic hurricane forecaster. "The computer models all point to an active, or very active, hurricane season."

Thursday's forecast was released at a time when Republicans in Congress are sharply scrutinising Noaa's role in forecasting. Earlier in the day, a house committee held a hearing to discuss privatising some of the forecasting functions that are overseen by the premier scientific agency. There has also been criticism of Noaa's messaging in advance of Hurricane Sandy, and whether its decision to officially downgrade the storm when it made landfall in New Jersey induced a false sense of security among some coastal communities.

Noaa officials, in unveiling their 2013 forecast, noted improvements to computer models that would allow better far-range prediction of storms. New Doppler radar data, to be introduced in July, will allow forecasters to better analyse rapidly changing storm conditions, officials said. However, the officials said it was impossible at this juncture to predict which coastal communities along the Atlantic coast are most likely to be hit this year.

It is also not yet clear when the storms will hit. As Sullivan noted, Sandy struck in the waning days of the hurricane season. "Hurricane Sandy was at the very end of the hurricane season and yet was one of the most devastating storms that we have ever seen," she said.

But officials said repeatedly that residents the length of the coast – and beyond – needed to prepare in advance, in order to be able to ride out storms in their homes or, if needed, have an exit plan in place. Such preparations should include putting aside a 72-hour supply of food and water at home, or having an evacuation plan in case of storm damage or flooding.

"This is a very dangerous hurricane season," said Joe Nimmich, who directs disaster response and recovery for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "If you are not prepared you may become one of the statistics we don't care to have."

1. Oklahoma tornado: is climate change to blame? | Harry Enten
2. Nelly the elephant predicts Bayern Munich to win Champions League – video

Cash and carry group sees profits rise as caterers turn away from processed meats

Cash and carry group Booker has benefited from the horsemeat scandal as more caterers have turned away from processed meats and started making meals from scratch, according to the company. Chief executive Charles Wilson said: "We are the biggest meat supplier to the catering industry in the country and since the scandal we have seen quite a lot of the caterers turning back to making their own burgers and lasagnes. So, we've moved from selling pre-packaged burgers to selling more fresh mince instead."

Booker's profits jumped 13% to £101m, on sales up from £3.5bn to £4bn a year earlier. Wilson said the rise was also due to a boost in demand from small retailers who have managed to ride through the recession relatively unscathed: "There are quite of lot of good entrepreneurs and talented people saying 'I want to set up a deli' or a new format. We've also seen a big rise in high-quality steaks being sold, with a number of Brazilian and Argentinian steakhouses driving sales."

The company bought struggling rival Makro last year with the Competition Commission deciding the deal could be completed last month. Bosses believe this will add around £10m of sales next year.

1. Asda regains trust of customers after horsemeat scandal
2. Giorgio Armani enjoys sales boost after opening 104 new shops

Natural England licensed cull of tens of thousands of lesser black-backed gulls on one of England's largest shooting estates

Tens of thousands of endangered birds have been shot, trapped and poisoned on one of England's largest shooting estates with the approval of the government agency responsible for protecting the species, a Guardian investigation has found.

The government has licensed an annual cull of lesser black-backed gulls on the Abbeystead estate on the Bowland Fells in Lancashire for decades, officially to stop water pollution. However, some experts believe the culling was also partly to protect grouse shooting interests.

The regulator Natural England now admits that, since a government-led bird conservation review occurred in 2001, "confusion" over the legal protection status of the species has allowed the culling to continue, despite its population crashing in recent years.

Chris Packham, the BBC Springwatch presenter and naturalist, has described the situation as a "travesty" and the RSPB is now calling for an urgent review.

The 23,500-acre Abbeystead estate was bought in 1980 by a trust "on behalf" of the Duke of Westminster, one of the UK's richest landowners. The duke's Grosvenor Estate manages the Abbeystead estate, which hosts pheasant and grouse shoots.

The estate was first allowed to cull the gulls in the 1970s on the grounds that droppings were polluting the watercourse. The licence to cull was last renewed by NE in 1999. But a former Abbeystead gull surveyor has admitted that the culling has been conducted, in part, to protect the "economy of the shooting estates". The species is known to eat grouse eggs.

Documents released to the Guardian under freedom of information laws show that techniques deployed over the years have included the use of a poison called alpha-chloralose, cannon-netting, gas guns, flag waving, falconry and shooting. Until 2003, 4,000-10,000 birds a year were being poisoned on the estate, according to one NE document. It is not known which culling techniques have been used since then.

The bird is a migratory gull with dark grey wings and distinctive yellow legs and bill. It has "amber" conservation status due to "serious concern about declines in many parts of its range". The UK, which it visits to breed during the summer months before returning to Portugal and west Africa in the winter, is home to 40% of the European population and more than half of these are found at fewer than 10 sites.

NE surveys of the Abbeystead population obtained by the Guardian show that in 1998 the Bowland Fells site of special scientific interest had recorded a peak population of 13,776 pairs. In 2001, 18,080 nests with eggs were recorded.

The surveys concluded that a baseline of 6,768 breeding pairs – the average population from 1983-87 – should be maintained in Bowland, but that a "loss of more than 25% is unacceptable". However, in 2012 the NE survey showed that pairs had fallen to the lowest level since records began in 1980, with just over 1,000 nests with eggs at Abbeystead/Tarnbrook. It warned that the "entire Bowland population is significantly below the level at the time of SSSI notification and is considered in unfavourable and declining condition". The survey also reported "significant and widespread culling and disturbance measures" in the area in 2012.

In 2001, government adviser the Joint Nature Conservation Committee published a review of the UK's Special Protection Areas, the sites classified in accordance with the European commission's birds directive, which seeks to legally protect endangered species and their habitats. It concluded that, alongside the hen harrier and the merlin, the gull was now a "qualifying species" within the Bowland SPA because it "supported a population of European importance". However, 12 years later, the official SPA citation document for Bowland has still not been updated to reflect that the gull should be a qualifying species deserving of legal protection.

NE admitted to the Guardian that this "mismatch" was still causing confusion, and that the culling at Abbeystead is therefore continuing legally. It said: "That the species still does not officially appear on the domestic SPA citation for Bowland is one of a number of instances where the 2001 review recommendations have yet to be translated into domestic legal documentation. There are other, similar instances at 97 other UK SPAs. The SPA Ramsar scientific working group and the Natura 2000 & Ramsar steering committee are aware of these and working towards a resolution. In the meantime, work continues to ensure that all species, which should be protected as part of an SPA, are safeguarded accordingly."

NE added that the reason why very few of the 2001 review's recommendations had been formally adopted was "principally due to resource issues and a need to prioritise marine SPA work". A new review was now under way, it stressed, which will "mop up many of the 2001 recommendations".

NE said it has been in dialogue with the Abbeystead estate since at least 2011 in an attempt to "seek the cessation of the current regime of disturbance and culling of [the gull] at Bowland Fells". It added: "These discussions are ongoing. Working through agreement remains Natural England's preferred approach. At Bowland Fells, as elsewhere, we pursue any modifications to existing consents on a voluntary basis with the aim of achieving a negotiated position with owner occupiers. Natural England's policy is to use enforcement as a last resort as, in most circumstances, it is a much lengthier and more costly process and can be subject to appeal."

Martin Harper, the RSPB's director of conservation, said: "The annual cull of lesser black-backed gulls in the Forest of Bowland should be halted. The gull's population is in serious decline nationally and an urgent evidence-led review is required to determine, once and for all, if there are any grounds for it to continue.

"Historically, the RSPB has reluctantly accepted the need for the Bowland population to be reduced on public health grounds to protect the water supply. We no longer think that this is still justified. The parlous state of lesser black-backed gulls around the UK is of serious concern as colonies in Cumbria and Suffolk are also in decline for reasons that are not clear; in Bowland we believe the decline can be reversed by stopping the cull."

Packham said he was "completely unaware of this travesty". He added: "In these days of widespread decline and the accompanying need for increasingly effective conservation, this perverse anomaly strikes me as particularly inexcusable on any level. The fate of a species should not be imperilled by the murderous desires of a minority. Here is a perfect opportunity for the shooting fraternity to publicly put their house in order and I sincerely hope they do."

The Grosvenor Estate said: "As we are involved in a dialogue with Natural England together with other land-owners, about the management of Bowland Fells, including the Abbeystead estate, we are not in a position to comment."

1. Government licensed buzzard egg destruction, documents reveal
2. Conservationists to count breeding birds after ‘puffin wreck’ winter
3. World’s tallest dam approved by Chinese environmental officials

1. Most UK species in decline, wildlife stocktake shows

Cicadas and their exoskeletons were found littering the Staten Island area as the insects prepare to mate – and then die

After 17 years beneath the ground, billions of cicadas are beginning to emerge along the US east coast.

The inch-long insects have spent their adolescence feasting on nutrients from tree roots. When the ground temperature reaches a steady 64F the cicadas burrow to the surface, shed their exoskeletons, and fly about, making a lot of noise in a bid to attract a mate.

After several weeks of frantic relations the females lay eggs. A couple of months later, tiny new cicadas hatch, fall to the ground, tunnel to a tree root, and the whole process begins again.

Earlier this month I went to New Jersey to document cicada nymphs (the name for a cicada yet to shed its exoskeleton) emerging.

On Wednesday the internet was abuzz with reports of real fully grown cicadas, with wings and everything, making a nuisance of themselves on New York's Staten Island.

Armed with a video camera and no zoological training whatsoever, I went to investigate.

1. Cicadageddon escalates as insects emerge on Staten Island, New York – video
2. East Coast trains is on the wrong track with ticket fine
3. First fully integrated artificial photosynthesis nanosystem

Glaciers on or around Everest have shrunk 13% in 50 years with the snow line 180 metres higher than it was 50 years ago

Global warming is melting snow and ice on the world's highest mountain at an accelerating rate, researchers have claimed.

A study by a team led by a Nepali scientist at the University of Milan has found that glaciers on or around Mount Everest have shrunk by 13% in the last 50 years with the snow line 180 metres higher than it was 50 years ago. The glaciers are disappearing faster every year, it says.

The 60th anniversary of the first ascent of the 8,848 metre (29,028ft) peak by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay will be celebrated next week.

The researchers say they suspect that the decline of snow and ice in the Everest region is a result of changes in global climate caused by human-generated greenhouse gases. However, they have not yet established a firm connection, Sudeep Thakuri, who led the team, said.

The landscape around Mount Everest has changed dramatically since the world's highest mountain was first climbed. Mountaineers now report more rock and less snow and ice on well known routes. The ends of glaciers around the peak have also retreated by an average of 400 meters since 1962, the new research found, and some smaller glaciers were now nearly half the size they were in the 1960s.

The researchers used satellite imagery of the peak and the 713-square-mile Sagarmatha national park around the mountain as well as long-term meteorological data.

Small glaciers of less than a square kilometre (about 247 acres), are vanishing fastest, registering a 43% decline in surface area since the 1960s, Thakuri said.

Specialists in Kathmandu said the rate of change through the Himalayas was variable. Though clear in places such as Nepal, at the eastern end of the chain, the situation was different in Pakistan and further west, said Arun Shrestha of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Kathmandu.

"The glaciers are in retreat but rates are different," he said. "It is quite rapid in the east Himalaya but in the west some are advancing while others are in retreat."

Other research suggests the ice of the main Khumbu glacier which flows down from Everest is less thick than it was previously.

The issue of the future of glaciers in the Himalayas is highly controversial. A United Nations report in 2007included a false claim that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035.

Though all say there is a change, scientists working in the field urge caution over any estimates, saying data is insufficient especially when looking at a small area.

"It is very difficult to scientifically say what are the trends on one particular mountain," Shrestha said.

The impact of climate change on the Himalayas will have consequences across south Asia and beyond. Rivers such as the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra depend to some extent on seasonal glacier melt. Countries across the region are already suffering acute water shortages.

"The Himalayan glaciers and ice caps are considered a water tower for Asia since they store and supply water downstream during the dry season," said Thakuri. "Downstream populations are dependent on the melt water for agriculture, drinking and power production."

1. Saudi Arabian woman in historic Mount Everest climb
2. Climber Is First Saudi Woman to Scale Mount Everest
3. First Saudi woman climbs Mount Everest

Renegotiation of contract with Chinese company mean more time for dig at former Buddhist settlement

The forts and temples of the ancient Buddhist town at Mes Aynak in Afghanistan throng with the biggest crowds they have seen in more than 14 centuries. Nearby, rows of sheet metal housing built for Chinese miners are almost empty.

Hundreds of archaeologists are working at the site to excavate gilded statues of the Buddha, elaborate stupas that rise from ornately carved floors and delicate frescoes protected by centuries of mud and forgetfulness. The rich vein of copper that once funded Mes Aynak's creation is now likely to bring about its destruction: a Chinese state-owned mining company paid $3bn (£1.9bn) for the extraction rights, and the site will eventually become the world's biggest copper mine.

But while the fevered excavations are a thrilling sight for those racing to save the last traces of Mes Aynak, the lack of activity in the mining camp is alarming financial mandarins in Kabul, who are counting on mining revenue to make up for slowing streams of western aid.

This year was supposed to see production of the first copper from the site since Afghanistan embraced Islam, the first gush of ore eventually forecast to bring $300m to the government each year, and a $1bn annual boost to the still feeble Afghan economy.

Instead, the only excavation on the site is of archaeological treasures and even the most optimistic officials and analysts admit it will be two years before Mes Aynak copper is trucked off to a Pakistani port.

However, others think 2016 or 2017 are more realistic, after a series of setbacks. The Chinese camp was evacuated last summer after a Taliban rocket attack and shows no signs of being restaffed, the ministry of mines wants to renegotiate the multibillion-dollar contract for the site, and the archaeological dig that must be completed before mining starts is still in full swing.

"Don't worry, you will have at least until 2014," one of the few Chinese miners who stayed on told archaeologists earlier this year. Others from China Metallurgical Group (MCC), the company with a majority stake in the mine, had a similar message. "The cultural artefacts are the most important thing," they told surprised workers on an impromptu tour of the dig site.

Nearby, mining equipment sits idle, and many of the watchtowers ringing the core of the mine are empty at midday, although there is an outer circle of guards from a special resources protection unit.

Such concern for another country's cultural heritage, unusual for a hard-nosed Chinese natural resources company, comes as Afghanistan braces itself for huge political and security upheaval in 2014. The last Nato troops will leave by the end of the year, and the country must hold a presidential election to replace Hamid Karzai, who has ruled for more than a decade but is barred by the constitution from standing again.

Any company looking at a decades-long project might prefer to wait for more clarity on who will rule the country, and how secure it will be, before starting work in earnest, although MCC did not respond to requests for comment on its plans for Mes Aynak.

The Afghan government may also be willing to swallow some delays as it looks to renegotiate a contract that has been shadowed by corruption allegations since it was signed off six years ago. The minister who agreed it resigned shortly after reports surfaced that he had pocketed a $30m bribe from MCC, which he strongly denied. .

"We have requested for the renegotiation [of the contract]," said the current minister of mines, Wahidullah Shahrani, who has led a high-profile campaign to modernise the ministry and make its bidding process professional and transparent.

He declined to go into details on what changes he was seeking, saying only that the contract was several years old. "When it comes to these types of big projects, there could be a need for some type of what we call correction measures to be taken. But as of now we have not launched any formal renegotiation with them," he said, in an office lined with samples of the country's many valuable rocks, from lapis lazuli to iron ore.

The Chinese company was due to submit a new work schedule at the end of April, Shahrani said, and if work goes smoothly he believes production could start by 2015.

The cash is certainly needed, with World Bank forecasts for a $7bn hole in Afghanistan's annual budget after 2014, and the wider economy also suffering as US and Nato contracts dry up.

"When Aynak reaches full production the revenues to the government would be at least $300m … although it depends on fluctuations in the international copper market," Shahrani said. "In terms of its contribution to the national economy, the indirect contribution, it would be around $1bn."

But mining experts say that even if preparation work were to start in earnest this June, when the archaeologists' permission to dig ends, production is unlikely before 2016, given the preparation work usually needed for big mining projects.

"Big mines take on average between three to five years to build and construct," said a World Bank mining specialist, Michael Stanley, who declined to comment directly on Mes Aynak.

However, as long as the project is not called off, the wider Afghan economy will benefit from trucking, construction and any other work MCC contracts out, long before copper sales bring the government cash to balance its books.

"What everyone tends to forget is that the construction period for a mine, in terms of economic stimulus, is as important or more for the local economy than the production period," Stanley said.

1. Paint it red: artists find new life in west Cumbria’s disused iron ore mine
2. Zimbabwe: Govt in Dilemma Over Illegal Chinese Mining Activities
3. Syria’s ancient landmarks crumble under onslaught of war

Man who ran Slough dumping site is caught attempting to flee the country and ordered to pay over £880,000

A 55-year old man was arrested on the runway of Heathrow airport as he tried to flee the country to avoid paying back the proceeds of his illegal waste business.

Amrik Johal has now been jailed for three years after he was stopped while boarding a flight to Delhi last Thursday (16 May) without paying the full amount of a £881,513 confiscation order - money he needed to cough up for waste crimes he was convicted of in 2010.

The Environment Agency brought a case against Johal in 2008 for running an illegal waste site in Slough, Berkshire. Noisy activities at the site, which included the crushing of cars, the burning of diesel and dumping of waste between January 2006 and March 2007, caused misery for his neighbours.

The court ordered him to pay over £880,000 under the proceeds of crime act, but he failed to pay the full amount, despite owning a number of properties.

A warrant for Johal's arrest was issued on May 10 2013 after he failed to appear at court to explain why he had not paid up.

His attempt to flee the country was scuppered when airport security checks found that a warrant with no bail had been issued for him. The Metropolitan Police Special Branch at Heathrow Airport was forced to stop the plane, and the culprit was arrested on the runway.

1. Phonics literacy test for young children ‘a waste of time and money’
2. Flybe boss hits out at ‘punitive’ charges as airline quits Gatwick
3. Call for police to name suspects on arrest

Atlas drawn up by international experts aims to expand understanding of soil and how Africa can manage it sustainably

A team of international experts has drawn up the Soil Atlas of Africa – the first such book mapping this key natural resource – to help farmers, land managers and policymakers understand the diversity and importance of soil, and the need to manage it through sustainable use.

They say that despite soil's importance, most people in Africa lack knowledge about it, partly because information tends to be confined to academic publications read only by scientists.

"There was an existing database on soil that had not been updated by soil science experts from Africa, so we asked them to provide us with new information, which we translated into a form understandable to key stakeholders," said Arwyn Jones, a member of the soil team at the land resource management unit of the European commission's joint research centre, which produced the atlas.

The project began four years ago, and involved experts from the European commission, the African Union (AU) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. The atlas was released at the meeting of the AU and EU commissions in Addis Ababa last month.

Robert Zougmoré, regional programme manager for west Africa at the Cgiar research programme on climate change, agriculture and food security, says the atlas displays the diversity of African soil for both agricultural and non-agricultural purposes.

"We documented all the different types of soils and mapped them so that our decision-makers at national and regional levels can use the maps to decide where to invest in terms of food production and urbanisation," he says. "Using the atlas, we can identify regions such as central Africa, some parts of west Africa, and southern Africa where a type of fertile soil called vertisol – which maximises crop yields – can be found in greater quantities."

Zougmoré tells SciDev.Net that most African countries have national soil bureaus that are inadequately resourced, making it difficult to generate new soil information. He is now calling for more support from African governments.

Peter Okoth, a Nairobi-based natural resources consultant, says: "Regional users [of the atlas] have the opportunity to know about trends, problem hotspots and patterns of soil distribution". But he cautions that unless users are properly trained, they may find using the atlas challenging.

Pedro Sanchez, project director of the Africa Soil Information Service (Afsis), and a soil expert at the US-based Earth Institute at Columbia University, welcomes the atlas as an "important tool". But he points out that because the atlas is not interactive, users may find it difficult to determine relationships between soil properties and their impacts.

"We are also working on another interactive, web-accessible digital soil map that covers all the non-desert areas of Sub-Saharan Africa," says Sanchez, adding that Afsis hopes to complete this project by the end of the year.

• Download the Soil Atlas of Africa (part one, part two, part three). The atlas is also available as a printed copy from the EU's publication office.

1. Africa: African Soil Diversity Mapped for the First Time