Specialist wildlife teams plan to use funding for trained detection dogs to track down the incredibly rare ghost orchid, as well as looking after unique creatures such as the white-clawed crayfish and the swallowtail butterfly. More than 350 threatened species are set to benefit from a record £60m cash injection to rescue England's declining wildlife.
Largest-Ever Investment in Species Recovery
The massive funding package represents the largest-ever investment of its kind dedicated to supporting English plants, animals and fungi. A total of 130 local projects across England will share the windfall to safeguard vulnerable habitats. This money forms part of a wider government initiative called 'Wild Again: Restoring England's Wildlife' which aims to protect 364 endangered species ranging from birds to beetles. It comes at a critical time after figures showed that British wildlife populations have fallen by a third since 1970.
Support for Farmers and Land Managers
A large portion of the funding will directly support farmers and land managers to restore ecosystems alongside daily food production. Restoring habitats for pollinators like bees will help to improve future crop yields. New breeding hubs run by zoos and aquariums will also lead schemes to breed rare insects and release them into the wild. This work will help to connect communities with local nature.
Three-Year Plan to Meet Nature Targets
The massive environmental cash injection will be spent over the next three years to help meet strict new nature targets. An extra £30m will also be spent on rescuing species living in national forests. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: "Nearly one in six species in Britain are threatened with extinction, and this Government is taking action to reverse that decline. Through the largest-ever investment in species recovery, we are backing projects across the country to protect threatened wildlife, restore habitats and secure the future of some of England's most iconic species."
Natural England Chairman Praises Initiative
Natural England chairman Tony Juniper said: "For decades Natural England’s vital species recovery work has revealed how even the rarest of the rare can be brought back from the brink. The red kite, lady’s slipper orchid, pool frog, beaver and large blue butterfly are among examples that demonstrate the many opportunities at hand and what can be achieved for nature and wider society. We know that good science and effective partnerships can help restore species to favourable status, and this funding will enable us to support many initiatives to help halt and reverse the decline of our wonderful wildlife."
Seven Special Wildlife Projects Awarded Funding
Ghost orchid (West Midlands and Thames Solent): Natural England is deploying detection dogs and eDNA technology to locate and protect populations of the ghost orchid - one of England’s most elusive plants - which went unrecorded for over two decades before its rediscovery in 2009. Northern dune tiger beetle (Cumbria): The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust is leading conservation work in Cumbria to protect the northern dune tiger beetle, one of England’s most distinctive and rapidly declining insects. Dolphins and harbour porpoises: The Zoological Society of London will work to quantify the exposure to PFAS in dolphins and harbour porpoises. Both species are vulnerable to chemical pollution. However, the impacts of PFAS and contaminants of emerging concern remain poorly understood. Tansy beetle (West Anglia, Yorkshire, and Northern Lincolnshire): St Nicks (Friends of St Nicholas Fields) is leading the 'Saving the Green Jewel' project to recover the tansy beetle, a brilliantly coloured species whose survival depends on the riverside habitats it shares with farmers and communities across two of England’s most important agricultural regions. Swallowtail butterfly (East and West Anglia, Thames Solent, Wessex, Yorkshire, and Northern Lincolnshire): A Natural England project to support the UK’s largest and most critically endangered butterfly by tracking individual butterflies and mapping their behaviour and geographic association with its food plant, milk-parsley. White-clawed crayfish (national): A Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts project to support the UK’s only native crayfish, which is listed as protected in the UK and endangered globally due to threats from invasive species. Field gentian (Cumbria): A delicate native plant now rare across the UK will be supported through the Species Recovery Trust’s Threatened Plants Programme, which is working to secure the future of some of England’s most at-risk flora. Support will also be given to heath lobelia in Devon and Cornwall, an incredibly rare wildflower which almost disappeared, with only six native sites remaining across the whole country.
