More than 350 threatened species will benefit from the largest ever investment in recovering England’s wildlife, Natural England announced today (Wednesday 8 July), as part of the government's "Wild Again: Restoring England's Wildlife" initiative to turn the tide for England's wildlife.
The swallowtail butterfly and white-clawed crayfish are just two of the species set to benefit from the £60 million largest ever investment in recovering the country’s threatened plants, animals and fungi, supporting support 130 projects across England.
Since 1970, wildlife populations have fallen by a third, with one in six species at risk of extinction in Great Britain including some of our most treasured wildlife. Projects supported through the programme will target 364 threatened species, from birds to beetles, moths to mammals, spiders to snails and sharks to seahorses, to bring us closer to our goal of a wilder, healthier country for generations to come.
Farmed landscapes have seen some of the sharpest declines in wildlife, yet healthy ecosystems are the foundation of productive, resilient agriculture. A number of projects will support farmers and land managers to restore nature alongside food production, for example, projects that support the recovery of pollinator species and their habitats will, in turn, support crop yields.
Among the species set to benefit are the ghost orchid – so scarce it went unrecorded for 23 years before its rediscovery in 2009 – which will be located using detection dogs and environmental DNA technology; the northern dune tiger beetle, one of England's fastest declining insects; and the white-clawed crayfish, the UK's only native crayfish, threatened by invasive species. Species like the field gentian, one of England’s rarest plants, will also benefit.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said:
“Nearly one in six species in Britain are threatened with extinction and this Government is taking action to reverse that decline.
“Through the largest-ever investment in species recovery, we are backing projects across the country to protect threatened wildlife, restore habitats and secure the future of some of England's most iconic species.”
This programme sits alongside the government's wider support for farmers, including the largest nature-friendly farming budget in history — with £11.8 billion to be spent across this Parliament.
Natural England Chair Tony Juniper said:
"For decades Natural England's vital species recovery work has revealed how even the rarest of the rare can be brought back from the brink. The red kite, lady's slipper orchid, pool frog, beaver and large blue butterfly are among examples that demonstrate the many opportunities at hand and what can be achieved for nature and wider society.
“We know that good science and effective partnerships can help restore species to favourable status, and this funding will enable us to support many initiatives to help halt and reverse the decline of our wonderful wildlife."
Over the past three decades the programme has helped protect over 1,000 species and prevented the national extinction of at least 35 species.
Today's announcement builds on the government's commitment to reverse this decline and meet legal targets set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan, committing to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and reduce species extinction risk by 2042 against 2022 levels.
Defra will invest £60 million over the next three years, plus a further £30 million dedicated to species recovery on the national forest estate, bringing the total government commitment to £90 million.
The investment comes alongside the creation of three new national forests and approval of the first wild beaver releases since they were hunted to extinction around 400 years ago.
A full list of funded projects and species is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/species-recovery-programme-projects-awarded-funding-for-2026-to-2029
Examples of projects which have been successful in receiving funding from the Species Recovery Programme:
Ghost orchid in the West Midlands and Thames Solent – Natural England is deploying detection dogs and eDNA technology to locate and protect populations of the ghost orchid, one of England's most elusive plants, which went unrecorded for over two decades before its rediscovery in 2009.
Northern dune tiger beetle in Cumbria – The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust is leading conservation work in Cumbria to protect the northern dune tiger beetle, one of England's most distinctive and rapidly declining insects.
Tansy beetle in West Anglia and Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire – St Nicks (Friends of St Nicholas Fields) is leading the Saving the Green Jewel project to recover the tansy beetle, a brilliantly coloured species whose survival depends on the riverside habitats it shares with farmers and communities across two of England's most important agricultural regions.
Swallowtail butterfly in East and West Anglia, Thames Solent, Wessex, Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, a Natural England project to support the UK's largest and most critically endangered butterfly by tracking individual butterflies and mapping their behaviour and geographic association with the food plant milkwort.
White-clawed crayfish across the country, a Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts project to support the UK's only native crayfish, listed as protected in the UK and endangered globally, threatened by invasive species
Field gentian in Cumbria – a delicate native plant now rare across the UK will be supported through the Species Recovery Trust's Threatened Plants Programme, which is working to secure the future of some of England's most at-risk flora. As will Heath lobelia in Devon and Cornwall, an incredibly rare wildflower which almost disappeared, with only six native sites across the whole country.