11:30am Thursday 11th March 2010
THE most complete audit of hundreds of years of England’s wildlife reveals some of the winners and losers in Somerset.
Natural England’s Report, ‘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.
In Somerset the casualties include species like the red squirrel as well as less well known ones like cutgrass and the black veined white butterfly.
The Lost Life report, published today, highlights how habitat loss, inappropriate management, environmental pollution and pressure from non-native species have all played a part in the erosion of England’s biodiversity.
All of the major groups of flora and fauna have experienced losses, with butterflies, amphibians, and many plant and other insect species being particularly hard hit – in some groups up to a quarter of species have been become extinct since 1800.
Despite these pressures, conservation efforts have achieved many notable successes in protecting priority species and habitats.
The large blue butterfly has been successfully re-introduced on the Polden Hills and the decline of the greater water parsnip has been halted on the Somerset Levels.
To provide long-term support for our wildlife, Natural England is working with a range of partners in the SW 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.
Despite successful conservation interventions losses continue and nationally 943 native species are now classed as of conservation priority while the numbers of several hundred more are in significant decline.
Natural England's regional director for the South-West, Janette Ward, welcomed the report.
She said: “This is a timely reminder of the fragility of life and how quickly species can disappear on our own doorstep, almost without being noticed.
"We can stop this happening and arrest declines but it does need everyone to recognise how important our environment is and to act together to minimise the stresses and strains on it.
"I believe that in the South-West we have every chance achieve this.”
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