According to The Wildlife Trusts’ State of Nature report, most of the important habitats are in “poor condition”, but restoration projects could still help to rehabilitate some of the wildlife that has been lost.

The species studied have declined by an average of 19 per cent since monitoring began in 1970. But some groups have fared much worse than others, such as birds (43 per cent), amphibians and reptiles (31 per cent), fungi and lichen (28 per cent) and terrestrial mammals (26 per cent).

Species such as the turtle dove, hazel dormouse, lady’s slipper orchid and European eel now face an uncertain future, and there have also been declines in the distributions of more than half (54 per cent) of the UK’s flowering plant species, with species such as heather and harebell significantly at risk.

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “The State of Nature report is a stark reminder that politicians must not let nature drop down the agenda...