UK biodiversity “bumping along the bottom”

The UK is “bumping along the bottom” when it comes to biodiversity, say conservationists calling for more action to avoid losing vital natural functions like fruit crop pollination.

The warnings follow publication of the Natural History Museum’s Biodiversity Intactness Index, showing the UK has lost almost half its natural richness since the Industrial Revolution. “There’s a misconception that biodiversity is a ‘nice-to-have’ luxury,” says research leader Professor Andy

Purvis. “But it’s the basis of all the supply chains we depend on.”

Over 40 per cent of UK species are in decline: this year’s Big Butterfly Count recorded the lowest sightings since it began 12 years ago.

GW Magazine Wildlife Editor Kate Bradbury says the UK’s 22 million gardens can help: “The more species we attract to our gardens, the greater chance they have of surviving climate change.” nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/ biodiversity-indicators

The Big Butterfly Count noted a fall in numbers among species such as the peacock