We share our home with countless iconic and incredible species and landscapes that inspire our art, literature, tv and film, and culture.

We are a nation of walkers, gardeners, wild swimmers, campers and bird feeder watchers. Whether you hike to track down rare wild flowers or spot a fox on your way home, we all have a connection with nature.

However, in less than 50 years the UK has lost a fifth of our wildlife.

To put this into perspective, in human terms that would be the equivalent of losing the population of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Manchester combined. What is worse is that we have known that the UK has been becoming one of the most nature depleted counties in the world for a while.

A decade ago, the first State of Nature Report warned us 1 in 10 species were at risk of extinction, now it’s 1 in 6.

As worrying as this might be, the situation isn’t hopeless. In fact, we already know what needs to be done to fix it but to do this successfully, protection and restoration of nature must be a political priority.

The next General Election, happening on Thursday 4 July, will be the most important for wildlife in our lifetime as the decisions made by whoever is in power for the next five years will be crucial to meeting biodiversity targets.

Wildlife can and will recover when we make more space for nature.

Given the chance, wildlife can bounce back.

BBOWT’s nature focused land management has resulted in declining and rare wildlife like lapwing, Dartford warbler and brown argus butterfly beginning to recover.

Water voles are Britain’s fastest declining mammal yet through BBOWT’s Water Vole Recovery Project work our three counties buck the trend and population numbers are steadily increasing. The area of waterways with water volves in across Berks, Bucks and Oxon has grown from 338km² in 2007 to 546km² in 2020. As well as total area increasing BBOWT has seen more colonies linking up and reconnecting resulting in more sustainable and resilient populations.

However, to successfully bring British wildlife back we need to take this further and restore nature on a much larger scale.

The Government’s target is to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 yet so far only 3% of land and 8% of English waters are properly protected for nature.

To meet these targets and give wildlife the space it needs to recover and thrive The Wildlife Trusts are calling on the next UK Government to launch an Olympic-style cross-government delivery project.

At BBOWT, we have our own goal of having 30% of land across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire well managed for nature by 2030.

To help us achieve this we launched the biggest fundraising appeal in our history, the Nature Recovery Fund. The fund will enable us to do even more to protect and restore vanishing habitats such as wildflower meadows and ancient woodlands.

What is better for wildlife is better for all of us

By welcoming wildlife back into our towns, cities, and countryside everyone benefits. More nature means greater food security, cleaner water, better air quality and research has shown time and time again we become happier and healthier.

General Elections should be a time of hope and optimism for the future. So let’s make sure we ask for a better future for nature and people by asking parliamentary candidates to bring back the UK’s lost wildlife, and, however, you vote in July remember to Vote for Nature.

Find out more about how to get nature on the political agenda.

If you would like to support us in our fight to bring back our lost wildlife locally, you can donate to our Nature Recovery Fund.