Indicators Show Continued Decline For Protected Species in England

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published further detail for England’s Biodiversity Indicators for European Protected Species and Habitats.

The indicators show an increase in the percentage of species in ‘unfavourable-declining’ condition from 14% to 16%, along with fewer species in ‘favourable’, ‘unfavourable-improving’ and ‘unfavourable -stable’ conditions. This indicator is based on 83 species listed in Annexes II, IV and V of the Habitats Directive, excluding vagrants, which occur in England.

The indicators for habitats of European importance show that while the conservation status of 49% of habitats was ‘unfavourable-improving’ in 2007, only 21% are improving in 2019. However, a small increase in the ‘favourable’ condition was reported (+3%).

The 2019 UK Biodiversity Indicators have also been updated to reflect the availability of new data.