State of nature

For the first time ever, the UK’s wildlife organisations have joined forces to undertake a health check of nature in the UK and its Overseas Territories. 60% of the 3,148 UK species we assessed have declined over the last 50 years and 31% have declined strongly. Half of the species assessed have shown strong changes in their numbers or range, indicating that recent environmental changes are having a dramatic impact on nature in the UK. Species with specific habitat requirements seem to be faring worse than generalist species. A new Watchlist Indicator, developed to measure how conservation priority species are faring, shows that their overall numbers have declined by 77% in the last 40 years, with little sign of recovery. Of more than 6,000 species that have been assessed using modern Red List criteria, more than one in 10 are thought to be under threat of extinction in the UK. Our assessment looks back over 50 years at most, yet there were large declines in the UK’s wildlife prior to this, linked to habitat loss. The UK’s Overseas Territories hold a wealth of wildlife of huge international importance and over 90 of these species are at high risk of global extinction. There is a lack of knowledge on the trends of most of the UK’s species. As a result, we can report quantitative trends for only 5% of the 59,000 or so terrestrial and freshwater species in the UK, and for very few of the 8,500 marine species. Much needs to be done to improve our knowledge. What we do know about the state of the UK’s nature is often based upon the efforts of thousands of dedicated volunteer enthusiasts who contribute their time and expertise to monitoring schemes and species recording. The threats to the UK’s wildlife are many and varied, the most severe acting either to destroy valuable habitat or degrade the quality and value of what remains. Climate change is having an increasing impact on nature in the UK. Rising average temperatures are known to be driving range expansion in some species, but evidence for harmful impacts is also mounting. The full report is online: www.rspb.org.uk/stateofnature We should act to save nature both for its intrinsic value and for the benefits it brings to us that are essential to our wellbeing and prosperity. Targeted conservation has produced inspiring success stories and, with sufficient determination, resources and public support, we can turn the fortunes of our wildlife around. The State of Nature report serves to illustrate that with shared resolve and commitment we can save nature

A vascular plant red list for England

The results detailed in this vascular plant Red List present for the first time the current state of England's flora measured against standardised IUCN criteria. Almost one in five species has been assessed as threatened, with many more species assessed as "Near Threatened". The destruction and transformation of semi-natural habitats across the English landscape since the publication of the first Atlas of the British Flora (Perring & Walters 1962) is well known, and these changes are mirrored not only in the long list of taxa assessed as threatened in England but also in the decline in distribution by 20% or more of a suite of "Near Threatened" species, some of which were previously assumed to be widespread and with relatively stable distributions. The strategic approach advocated by Lawton et al. (2010) to restore, create and connect extant habitats at the landscape scale is essential if the declines identified in this and other Red Lists are to be arrested. Such an approach demands long-term commitment, considerable resources and a recognition of the benefits to be gained from a more diverse and adaptable environment

An assessment of the state of nature in the United Kingdom: a review of findings, methods and impact

Clear, accessible, objective metrics of species status are critical to communicate the state of biodiversity and to measure progress towards biodiversity targets. However, the population data underpinning current species status metrics is often highly skewed towards particular taxonomic groups such as birds, butterflies and mammals, primarily due to the restricted availability of high quality population data. A synoptic overview of the state of biodiversity requires sampling from a broader range of taxonomic groups. Incorporating data from a wide range of monitoring and analysis methods and considering more than one measure of species status are possible ways to achieve this. Here, we utilise measures of species’ population change and extinction risk to develop three species status metrics, a Categorical Change metric, a Species Index and a Red List metric, and populate them with a wide range of data sources from the UK, covering thousands of species from across taxonomy. The species status metrics reiterate the commonly reported decline in freshwater and terrestrial species’ status in the UK in recent decades and give little evidence that this rate of decline has slowed. The utility of species status metrics is further improved if we can extrapolate beyond the species sampled to infer the status of the community. For the freshwater and terrestrial species status metrics presented here we can do this with some confidence. Nevertheless, despite the range and number of species contributing to the species metrics, significant taxonomic bias remained and we report weighting options that could help control for this. The three metrics developed were used in the State of Nature 2016 report and indications are they reached a large number of audience members. We suggest options to improve the design and communication of these and similar metrics in the future

State of nature 2016

The first State of Nature report that I helped to launch in 2013 revealed the severe loss of nature that has occurred in the UK since the 1960s. Three years on, I am pleased to see that the partnership of organisations behind that important report has grown. Thanks to the dedication and expertise of many thousands of volunteers working closely with the professionals, we are now able to document even more about the changing state of nature across our land and in our seas. The news, however, is mixed. Escalating pressures, such as climate change and modern land management, mean that we continue to lose the precious wildlife that enriches our lives and is essential to the health and well-being of those who live in the UK, and also in its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. Our wonderful nature is in serious trouble and it needs our help as never before. But the State of Nature 2016 report gives us cause for hope too. The rallying call issued in 2013 has been met with a myriad of exciting and innovative conservation projects. Landscapes are being restored, special places defended, and struggling species are being saved and brought back. Such successes demonstrate that if conservationists, governments, businesses and individuals all pull together, we can provide a brighter future for nature and for people