Wildlife Challenge: England’s Lost and Threatened Species
Creating a network of natural green space in London will help to secure a more solid future for our wildlife.
‘Lost Life: England’s Lost and Threatened Species’ identifies nearly 500 animals and plants that have become extinct in England – practically all within the last two centuries. On top of this, nearly 1,000 native species have been given conservation priority status because of the severity of the threats facing them.
Alison Barnes, Director of Natural England in London, said: “Coinciding with the International Year of Biodiversity, this report is a powerful reminder that we cannot take our wildlife for granted and that we all lose when biodiversity declines. With more and more of our species and habitats confined to isolated, protected sites, particularly in urban areas, we need to think on a much broader geographical scale about how we can reverse the losses of the recent past, climate proofing our natural environment, creating a network of natural green space in the city which will help to secure a more solid future for our wildlife.”
We have to enhance and connect our city’s green spaces to give wildlife and habitats more room to
thrive.
thrive.
In London, it could seem that the worst is behind us. For example, by the end of the 1950s, the River Thames was biologically dead due to excessive pollution. During the 1960s and 70s, improvements were made at two sewage treatment plants, resulting in a dramatic improvement in water quality. As a result, today there are 121 different species of fish and over 170,000 birds which have returned to live and breed in the estuary.
Conservation efforts have achieved some notable successes in protecting priority species and habitats - including the return of the peregrine, the short-snouted seahorse and the Atlantic salmon to London. Nevertheless, losses continue, exacerbated by continued human activity, climate change and fragmented habitats. Approximately 150 native species are now classed as of conservation priority in the capital while the numbers of many more are in significant decline. Some of London’s most familiar species - including the house sparrow, hedgehog, and European eel - face an uncertain future.
To provide long term support for our wildlife, Natural England is working with a range of partners in the England Biodiversity Group to adopt a “landscape-scale” approach to conservation which goes beyond the conservation of small protected sites and individual species and embraces the management of entire landscape areas and the ecosystems that operate within them. Wide-scale restoration of habitats and ecosystems and linking of habitat areas is seen as key to taking the pressure off the biodiversity hotspots of individual sites and reserves and giving broader support to wildlife across London, and into the wider countryside.
Alison Barnes continued, “Current, targeted conservation programmes have been central to supporting London’s biodiversity and they show that we can reverse some of the losses of the past. But fire fighting to rescue species and habitats in severe decline can never be a long term solution. We need a step-change in conservation which focuses on restoring the health of ecosystems across the capital. We have to enhance and connect our city’s green spaces to give wildlife and habitats more room to thrive. Only through co-ordinated activity across sectors can we reverse continuing declines in biodiversity in London.”
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