These birds, butterflies, beasts and bugs are among hundreds of species that have become EXTINCT in England over the last 200 YEARS.
Wildlife experts have launched the LARGEST ever online portal of information about the incredible 421 species which have disappeared from our country since 1814.
The Species Recovery Trust, which is behind the Lost Life Project, hopes that by publicising this issue they can help prevent a further loss of biodiversity.
“It’s so easy to think of species extinction as something that happened decades ago in England, but year upon year we continue to lose species, at a rate which is far higher than would occur naturally,” said Dominic Price, Director of the Trust. “Sometimes the list of extinct species names can seem rather dry and scientific so this project aimed to find as many pictures as still existed of these species, to give a fitting testament to the role they played in lighting up our countryside, and highlighting the tragedy that these lights have now gone out”
The world is currently experiencing the sixth mass extinction event, with species disappearing as a result of habitat loss, intensification of agriculture and pollution, as well as other human activities. England’s lost species include ants, bees, beetles, butterflies, dragonflies, fish, fleas, fungi, mammals, moths, shrimps, spiders and wasps. The plant Davall’s Sedge was once found at a site in Somerset, but in the 19th Century it was drained for development and has never again been seen in this country. Ivell’s Sea Anemone, which was only ever found in England, has become globally extinct following changes in water quality at its one known site.
In Victorian times the Large Tortoiseshell butterfly was widespread in southern England, but it became extinct in 1953 due to Dutch elm disease, which eradicated the main larval food source. The Black-backed Meadow ant became extinct in 1988 due to urban development and inappropriate land management. The Species Recovery Trust has now launched an online database with information and images of England’s lost species.
“If we continue to allow these extinctions to occur, this country will soon be bereft of the biodiversity that remains.” added Dominic. “We hope the website will raise awareness and knowledge about conservation issues in this country, and inspire people to become more involved in protecting their local biodiversity. One of the primary aims of the Species Recovery Trust is to prevent this list from getting any longer. We believe that by both raising awareness about the tragic extinctions thay have already occurred and focussing our work on the very rarest species in the UK, we can prevent further losses from occurring.”
The Species Recovery Trust aims to remove 50 species from the edge of extinction in the UK by 2050 through effective conservation strategies.
