Nature in decline Threatened species

Skylarks, once abundant in the UK, have crashed in number by 56 per cent since the 1970s, with intensive farming one of the prime reasons.

Hedgehogs (inset) have suffered even more. They have declined by up to 75 per cent since

2000, and there have been suggestions there are fewer than a million left.

Similarly, hazel dormice have slumped in number by 70 per cent from the year 2000, according to last year’s

State of Nature report.

Birds were found to be under particular threat with 43 per cent of species at risk of localised extinction, while 31 per cent of amphibians and reptiles were also at risk.

Eighty per cent of the UK’s butterflies have declined since the 1970s, with some of the most at-risk types including the wood white, swallowtails, adonis blues (pictured) and large heath.

While urban populations of foxes have grown, there has been an overall decline in populations by 48 per cent since 1995. As of 2023, there were about 140,000 red squirrels in the UK, down from what was once a population of 3.5 million. Water voles were once common across Britain’s waterways, but have now vanished from 94 per cent of our rivers and lakes. The lesser spotted woodpecker (pictured) declined by 91 per cent in 1967-2020. Plants are also in decline, with 53 per cent of species such as heather decreasing in their distribution.