State of Nature 2023: UK Wildlife Continues To Decline
4th October 2023
This comprehensive report, the most extensive assessment of UK wildlife to date, also reveals that the species assessed have declined by an average of 19% since monitoring began in 1970. The report emphasises that even before widespread monitoring began in 1970, the UK had already undergone a significant depletion in wildlife due to centuries of habitat loss, unsustainable farming practices, development, and persecution.
Wildlife and wild spaces should be protected and restored for their own sake. But we need them too. We depend on healthy resilient ecosystems. We need them for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. We also need them for our mental and physical wellbeing.
Evidence shows that living in a greener environment can promote and protect good health, aid in recovery from illness and help manage poor health. Access to nature also supports better mental health and overall wellbeing. Green spaces can help bind communities together, reduce loneliness, and mitigate the impacts of air pollution, excessive noise, heat and flooding.
The distribution of pollinator species as decreased by 18% on average
Yet the UK’s ecosystems are at breaking point. For example, as shown in the report, the distribution of pollinator species, including bees, hoverflies and moths, have decreased by 18% on average. Pollinating insects are worth millions of pounds to UK agriculture, and their population declines threaten food production.
Species providing pest control, such as the two-spot ladybird, have declined by more than a third. Most of the important habitats needed for nature to thrive are also in poor condition.
The report did reveal some positive findings. It shows that coordinated wildlife conservation action has made a key difference to many species and habitats. Nature conservation works but the scale and ambition needs to increase rapidly across all levels and areas of society to reverse the declines.
With over 80% of people living in urban areas in the UK, we believe our towns and cities have a vital role in tackling wildlife decline and bringing the benefits of nature to the places we live, work and play.
People who are connected to nature are more likely to take action to support it. We will only care for and protect the things we know and care about.
However, around 1 in 3 people in England don’t have accessible nature-rich spaces near their homes, with no green space at all in some of the most deprived areas. Almost 40% of people of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (BAME) live in England’s most green space-deprived neighbourhoods, and ethnic minority groups are twice as likely to live in nature-poor areas.
Super tiny, super powerful
Giving people access to nature must be part of efforts to restore wildlife. At Earthwatch Europe, we are striving to do this through our Nature in Cities programmes such as Tiny Forest.
As highlighted in the report, Tiny Forest is a pioneering urban nature-based solution. Each Tiny Forest is a diverse mix of 600 native trees and shrubs planted in a 200m2 area, following the Miyawaki method developed in Japan.
We have planted over 200 Tiny Forests across the UK since 2020 with partners, communities, businesses and schools. Tiny Forests are for everyone, and we aim, where possible, to plant Tiny Forests in areas of multiple deprivation (currently 50% of Tiny Forests in England are in the 30% most deprived areas).
Tiny Forests provide communities access to nature. They are engaged in planting, looking after, and monitoring the environmental and social benefits provided by Tiny Forests. Nearly 3,500 citizen scientists took part in surveys in 2022 across 80 Tiny Forests investigating carbon storage, flood management, thermal comfort and invertebrate biodiversity.
Over 90% of participants surveyed who took part in activities in Tiny Forest in 2022 said it made them feel refreshed and revived, while 97% said they felt close to nature.
Earthwatch Europe is one of 70 partner organisations involved in producing the world-leading State of Nature 2023 report.