Packham to lead campaign for wildlife

A CAMPAIGN group headed by TV presenter Chris Packham launches today to take on public bodies to get a “better deal” for wildlife.

The campaigner said wildlife had been “abused, has been suffering, exploited or destroyed by criminals for too long”.

It came as a new report from the think-tank Institute for Public Policy Research warned that in the UK “one of the most naturedepleted countries in the world”, populations of the most threatened species have fallen by twothirds on average since 1970.

The not-for-profit company, which will raise funds for legal action from donations and crowdfunding appeals, was set up by Mr Packham, with co-campaigners Dr Mark Avery and Dr Ruth Tingay.

It will be called Wild Justice because, Mr Packham said, “the wild needs justice more than ever before”. And he warned lawbreakers: “We are coming for you. Peacefully, democratically and legally.”

Dr Tingay said many people despaired about what was happening to wildlife but felt powerless to help. She said: “Wild Justice provides an opportunity for ordinary citizens to fight back on behalf of wildlife, collectively helping us to challenge poor decisions or flawed policies that threaten to harm our wildlife.

“With so many potential cases, the difficulty for us will be to decide which ones to take on first.”

The IPPR report said 2m tonnes of topsoil is eroded annually and nearly 85 per cent of fertile peat soil in East Anglia has gone since 1850, with the rest at risk of being lost in the next 30 to 60 years,