- Ministers have pledged £90 million to safeguard hundreds of England's most threatened native wildlife species from extinction.
- The funding, described by the Environment Department (Defra) as the largest-ever investment in species protection, aims to reintroduce or bolster populations of various animals across England.
- £60 million will be distributed through Natural England's species recovery programme over the next three years for local projects, with an additional £30 million dedicated to the national forest estate.
- This initiative addresses the UK's status as one of the most nature-depleted countries, where wildlife populations have declined by a third since 1970, and one in six species face extinction.
- The investment supports the government's mission to reverse nature declines and meet legal targets, including halting species decline by 2030 and reducing extinction risk by 2042.
IN FULL
