From robot farm hands to laser weeders and artificial lakes, to 3D tour guides, Futurist predicts what the future holds for the UK’s rural communities UK Altnet brand, Fibrus, has released a report which challenges long-held assumptions about rural decline and highlights the extraordinary potential of the UK’s rural communities as engines of growth.

A critically endangered Bornean orangutan has been born at Chester Zoo. The tiny infant was delivered safely by experienced mum Leia in the early hours of Tuesday 7 October, following an eight-and-a-half-month pregnancy. Primate experts at the zoo have hailed the birth as “an important step forward” in efforts to safeguard the species and report that both mum and baby are doing well.

An ambitious project to help conservationists reduce damaging human-elephant interactions has taken a major step forward. With more than 500 people and 60-100 elephants die each year due to human-wildlife conflict in India, conservation researchers are creating a map predicting where future conflicts may occur based on historical incidents.

The hot summer weather followed by a warm and wet autumn has created the perfect conditions for fungi this autumn. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s second Fungi Festival includes foraging walks, ID walks, log inoculation workshops, talks, craft sessions, and storytelling. The Trust is also encouraging young people to join a mushroom march with DIY mushroom hats.

Conservationists are celebrating the birth of a rare coppery titi monkey at Chester Zoo - the first of its kind to be born at the conservation charity in 94 years. Zookeepers spotted the baby clinging to the back of its parents during their early morning checks.

When you think of autumn gardens, do you imagine dull leaves and fading flowers? You couldn’t be more wrong. British Garden Centres has put together a guide to instant impact plants that can make a garden burst into vibrant life, delivering both colour and joy.

Two super rare (and super orange!) primates have made their debuts at Chester Zoo. The pair of tiny golden lion tamarins, named George (7) and Leaf (12), are the first of their kind to ever live at the zoo. Standing at just eight inches tall, the duo has been caught on camera as they explored their new home for the first time, where they live alongside other species of rare primates.

Butterfly experts have been sharing their excitement after a species from southern Europe was confirmed to have been seen in the UK for the first time. Two sightings of the Southern Small White have now been verified - one in Suffolk and one in County Durham. It comes after the UK recorded its warmest and sunniest-ever spring, which has prompted a flurry of unusual butterfly and moth activity.

A duo of corpse flower blooms have captured global attention. Now conservation scientists are calling for the horticultural community to learn from this to save other threatened plants. Scientists at Chester Zoo say the attention and care given to the odorous titan arum plants currently blooming at the U.S.

Butterfly Conservation has launched a nationwide rescue mission for the UK’s butterflies and needs the people of Lancashire to get involved! Last summer, Lancashire’s butterflies sent an urgent SOS through Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count, with citizen scientists in Lancashire spotting only 19,379 butterflies and day-flying moths during the three-week period.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust are absolutely delighted to announce their first-ever bittern breeding success at North Cave Wetlands nature reserve near Hull, where a juvenile bittern was spotted earlier this week. Bitterns were once declared extinct in the UK, but due to conservation efforts in recent years are starting to make a comeback.