State of Nature 2023 report outlines 19pc wildlife declines

The 2023 State Of Nature report says UK wildlife has declined by 19pc on average since 1970, with 16pc of the 10,000 species assessed now threatened with extinction in this country - including 43pc of bird species.

Climate change and intensive farming are listed as the biggest causes of habitat loss for threatened wildlife such as turtle doves, water voles, hazel dormice, lady's slipper orchids and European eels.

A water vole on the River Tiffey (Image: Gavin Bickerton-Jones)

The report acknowledges a "growing recognition of the value of nature" yet, despite progress in ecosystem restoration, conservation and nature-friendly land use, "the UK’s nature and wider environment continues, overall, to decline and degrade."

Although a fifth of UK farmland is managed under agri-environment schemes, it says "nature-friendly farming needs to be implemented at a much wider scale to halt and reverse the decline in farmland nature".

That message was reinforced by a leading voice in Norfolk farm conservation.

Jake Fiennes is head of conservation at the Holkham Estate near Wells, and manages its 10,000-acre National Nature Reserve. He also holds national conservation roles on the RSPB England committee and Defra’s species reintroduction taskforce.

He is optimistic that farmers can rise to the biodiversity challenge – as long as emerging government incentive schemes are properly developed and funded, and the right advice is given to farmers to ensure their efforts for wildlife are targeted effectively.

“I am genuinely encouraged by what Norfolk farmers are doing," he said.

"I have already seen a change in the landscape of Norfolk in the last five years, based on a more holistic approach to food production and soil health.

"I have seen real, positive applications and the improvement of nature by Norfolk farmers. In the next 18-24 months, if farmers feel the incentives are right and suit their businesses, we will see the landscape change again, for the better.

"So I am cautiously positive. We really have the ability to do this. Advice is key, and incentive is key."

Productive Norfolk farmland alongside wildlife-rich hedgerows, pollinator strips and cultivated margins (Image: Jake Fiennes)

Mr Fiennes gave an example of a tenant farm at Holkham where a Countyside Stewardship scheme was recently introduced, focusing on “simple options” including hedgerows, species-rich floristic areas to create food and habitat for pollinators, insects and birds, and cultivated areas where rare arable plants can thrive and benefit farmland birds and invertebrates.

“Once you have done these things, you can start to create it at scale, looking in more detail at the less productive areas of the farm to target things where you could have greater gains for more specific aspects of nature,” he added.

“We cannot sideline nature to the corner of fields, it has got to be a whole farm approach."

A spoonbill (Image: Dorset Wildlife Trust)

Meanwhile, on Holkham’s protected nature reserve, he said there have been major wildlife successes this year including the most successful breeding season on record for the spoonbill colony, with 47 nests producing 90 young.

The Cetti’s warbler, whose population fell to just three breeding pairs following the Beast from the East in 2018, has risen to more than 35 pairs, and little terns have had the “greatest fledging years at Holkham Bay in nearly two decades” after they were protected by seasonal dog restrictions.

But other species such as coot, moorhen and lapwing have struggled, for reasons including dry springs, torrential rains just as chicks are fledging, and apex predators.

"If we are going to get ourselves out of this muddle we need to have an understanding of where we have managed to gain successes," he said.

"In my close to 30 years in Norfolk working in highly productive farmland, we have managed to significantly increase the abundance of a range of species in relatively short periods of time. 

"But in recognition of climate change, we would expect to see some species finding the climatic conditions significantly challenging, so we also see species on the reserve with a wonderful ability to adapt, or to migrate to new areas and habitats that are favourable."

Also included in the report's five key responses to the biodiversity crisis are increased restoration of important ecosystems such as peatland, and expanding protected areas, as "only 11pc of UK land is in protected areas, and not all of these are well-managed for nature".

The 213-page report was produced by more than 60 organisations, including wildlife conservation groups, government agencies and academics.

Prof Richard Gregory, the RSPB’s head of monitoring conservation science, said: "The sobering message is that the state of UK nature and the wider environment, based upon the indices that we’ve got, continues to decline and degrade.

"At the same time, we’ve never actually had such a good understanding of the state of nature in the United Kingdom and we’ve never had such a good understanding of how we might fix it."

Responding to the report's findings, National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Minette Batters said "huge amounts of work" had been carried out through agri-environment schemes and industry-led initiatives to boost nature, create wildlife habitats and improve soil health.

But she added that any proposals to boost nature recovery must sit alongside equally ambitious plans for food production.

Eliot Lyne, chief executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust (Image: Newsquest)

Norfolk Wildlife Trust's new nature strategy

Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) has launched a new strategy to address the increasingly urgent need to protect the county's natural assets.

The "A Wilder Norfolk for All" vision was revealed ahead of the publication of the State of Nature report, which outlined the decline of UK biodiversity since 1970.

Eliot Lyne, the trust's chief executive, said Norfolk has a "great responsibility" due to its high proportion of wildlife-rich habitats, including chalk streams, reedbed, fens, dry acid grassland and coastal sand dunes - along with its position as a stronghold for priority species including swallowtail butterfly, bittern and stone curlew.

"The State of Nature Report paints an alarming picture, but there is hope," he said. "Many of our nature restoration projects across the county show that it is possible to reverse the declines in wildlife we are seeing.

"To address the increasing urgency needed to protect our natural environment, we launched our new strategy, A Wilder Norfolk for All, setting out our increased ambitions for Norfolk’s wildlife and people.

"Urgent action for nature is required now, and it is more vital than ever that we work together - alongside landowners, businesses, conservation partners, town planners, our communities and with the support of our government."

The strategy is focused on "achieving landscape-scale nature recovery" through the protection and restoration of more than 60 NWT nature reserves, and by working in partnership to help create nature corridors on over 1,500 County Wildlife Sites, across farmland and other privately-owned land.

The trust also pointed to the success of existing projects across the county, including the creation of new inland reedbeds at Hickling Broad, Potter Heigham and Wissey Wetlands to support rare wildlife including marsh harrier, bittern and bearded tit; protecting coastal sites such as Holme Dunes to encourage the return of rare natterjack toads; restoring peatlands in the Fens to support scarce dragonflies and wading birds, and restoring pingos in the Brecks at Thompson Common, bringing back the rare northern pool frog and scarce emerald damselfly. 

The trust has also seen nightjar and curlew return to restored heathland sites including Roydon Common and Grimston Warren, and created a new urban nature reserve at Sweet Briar Marshes in Norwich to protect wildlife such as water vole, common toad, willow warbler and snipe.