A village in Shropshire has been designated as a conservation area.

Kynnersley dates back to medieval times, retaining part of the original road layout. It also features a number of cottages built in the 19th Century by the Duke of Sutherland for his tenants.

It is the eighth conservation area within the Telford and Wrekin borough.

Councillor Carolyn Healy said the local authority wanted to preserve “unique” towns and villages.

Telford and Wrekin Council said a conservation area was defined as an “area of special architectural or historic interest, the character and appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance”.

It means Kynnersley will have tighter planning controls, meaning the local authority will have to protect Kynnersley’s special character when deciding on planning applications.

The UK is threatening health and marine life on the French coast by allowing raw sewage to be dumped in the Channel and North Sea, says three Euro MPs.

Pollution warnings have been issued for almost 50 beaches in England and Wales, after heavy rain caused sewage overflow to be diverted into rivers and the sea.

The French MEPs accuse the UK of neglecting environmental commitments and risking marine life and fishing.

British water companies have said they are investing in solving the problem.

Since its departure from the European Union, the United Kingdom had neglected its environmental commitments, the MEPs said in a letter calling for legal or political action from the European Commission.

A UK government spokesperson said their allegation was “simply not true”.

Despite no longer being bound by EU laws, the UK was still a signatory to relevant United Nations conventions on protecting shared waters, the MEPs argued.

The three MEPs all belong to French President Emmanuel Macron’s pro-EU En Marche party. One of them, Pierre Karleskind, chairs the European Parliament’s fisheries committee.

A team of villagers has rescued about 700 fish from a pond that had almost entirely dried up.

The volunteers decided to act after seeking advice when they were seen struggling in very low water in Barton, Cambridgeshire.

They were caught and moved to a temporary tank in a back garden, where they will remain until rain has refilled the pond.

The Environment Agency urged anyone who sees fish in distress to report it. A spokesperson said: “Moving fish without appropriate guidance could risk spreading diseases between waters.”

An endangered butterfly that was once extinct in the UK has had its best summer in 150 years.

The large blue butterfly is one of Europe’s most endangered insects but thousands have been recorded this summer in south-west England.

It is the result of a long-term conservation project, led by the Royal Entomological Society.

Scientists said the success story shows how species at risk of extinction can be saved.

Many other rare species also benefitted from the conservation work across around 40 sites in Somerset and in the Cotswolds.

The large blue was declared extinct in the UK in 1979. Four years later caterpillars were brought from Sweden in an attempt to reintroduce the species in England.

Research ecologist David Simcox, one of the duo who reintroduced the butterfly in 1983, said it was “incredibly satisfying” to see them now thriving.

Gashaka-Gumti National Park is located in a mountainous region of North-east Nigeria adjacent to the international border with Cameroon, and immediately to the North of the Mambilla plateau.

No roads cross this remote region and only a few lonely footpaths wind through the forested mountains towards Cameroon.

Visitors to the park are able to enjoy lush forests, wide sweeping grasslands, cool highland plateaus, rugged moody mountains, abundant wildlife, and fascinating ethnic cultures, all combined within a single protected area.

There are few other places in the world that contain such spectacular scenery and such diverse wildlife. The hidden corner of west Africa that is Gashaka-Gumti National Park is surely one of the continent’s best kept secrets.

Gashaka-Gumti National Park, the largest park in Nigeria, covers 6,731 sq km of wilderness.

The park’s name is derived from two of the region’s oldest and most historic settlements: Gashaka village in Taraba State, and Gumti village in Adamawa State. Gashaka-Gumti National Park was created by Federal Decree in 1991 by the merging of Gashaka Game Reserve with Gumti Game Reserve.

The Northern, Gumti sector of the park is relatively flat and covered with woodlands and grasslands, whilst the Southern, Gashaka sector is more mountainous and contains vast expanses of rainforest as well as areas of woodlands and montane grassland.

This rugged terrain is characterised by steep, thickly forested slopes, deep plunging valleys, precipitous escarpments and swiftly flowing rivers. Altitude ranges from 450 metres above sea level in the wild savannah plains of the Northern sector, to the peaks and pinnacles of Gangirwal in the Southern Park sector, which at a staggering 2,400 metres above sea level, represents Nigeria’s highest mountain.

It is the sheer variety of different habitats within Gashaka-Gumti National Park that makes the area so uniquely rich in wildlife.

In fact the park is actually an intricate mosaic of montane grasslands, savannah woodlands, swamps, lakes, mighty rivers, dark lowland rainforests, and luxuriant, montane rainforests strewn with ferns and orchids.

Each habitat supports its own distinctive community of plants and animals.

Rainforests provide a haven for animals such as the Giant Forest hog, leopard, Yellow-backed duiker, Golden cat, and many different primate species including chimpanzees.

Woodland savannahs are home to buffalo, lion, elephant, and Wild dog, as well as various antelopes such as waterbuck, Roan antelope, kob, hartebeest and the world’s largest antelope, the Giant eland.

The mountains of the park harbour populations of the rare Adamawa mountain reedbuck, in addition to Black-and-white colobus monkey, baboon, warthog, oribi, and klipspringer.

Whilst its largest unspoilt rivers contain hippos, crocodiles, otters and a wide variety of fishes.

The park is officially labelled as one of Africa’s “Important Bird Areas” – and with more than 500 species found here, this is certainly no exaggeration.

Visiting bird watchers constantly add new species to the list. An additional abundance of creatures such as butterflies, flowers and trees, makes this park a naturalists’ paradise, unrivalled anywhere for diversity.