Calls to set up £1 billion environment fund yearly

A £1 billion-a-year Sir David Attenborough Fund should be set up to protect nature and communities who rely on it in developing countries, a report urges.

The fund would respond to public backing for action to conserve and restore nature, particularly after the popularity of the BBC’S Blue Planet II, think tank Bright Blue and the Conservative Environment Network report said. Money could go on projects such as supporting protected areas for wildlife in Commonwealth countries and their oceans, or conserving critical “corridors” of land or sea for key species such as elephants, tigers, whales and turtles.

Mark Rose, chief executive of Fauna and Flora International, said the call to fund nature was “desperately needed and very timely”.