State of Nature Report 2023
State of Nature Report 2023
Our most recent report detailing the State of Nature in Wales has shown that one in six of our species is at risk of extinction. As a result, Wales is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.
Some of the wildlife that has suffered the biggest population losses are the insects, flora and mammals that people may be less familiar with. Well-known species like the Atlantic Salmon and Curlew have also suffered critical declines in Wales.
There has also been an increase in population and as highlighted in the report, action for nature can make a real difference.
18%
of Welsh species are threatened with extinction
20%
decrease in Welsh wildlife since 1994
42%
of Wales’ plant species are found in fewer places than before
43%
Moths have on average showed the strongest decline
The main causes of these declines are clear, as are some of the ways in which we can reduce impacts and help struggling species.
The evidence from the last 50 years shows that ongoing changes in the way we manage our land for agriculture, and the effects of climate change, are having the biggest impacts on our wildlife.
At sea, and around our coasts, the main pressures on nature are pollution, climate change, over-exploitation (historic fisheries), invasive species and marine development.
Project Seagrass
Project Seagrass
Seagrass is our ally when tackling the nature and climate crisis.
Seagrass absorbs and stores carbon and provides a vital home for nature. Healthy meadows can also help protect communities from the impacts of coastal erosion and flooding. However, we have lost up to 92% of UK seagrass meadows.
In 2020 we successfully planted two hectares of seagrass meadows at a pilot site in Dale, which sits within the Milford Haven waterway.
In 2022 we launched a project to restore ten hectares of seagrass meadow on the north Wales coast, in the areas of Anglesey and the Llyn Peninsula.
We aim to plant over 5 million seagrass seeds by the end of 2026. This Winter/Spring planting begins on the Llyn Peninsula.
Success stories
Success stories
The good news is that there are decades of successful conservation practice to draw upon, and for many habitats and species there is detailed evidence of which actions work.
Examples of successful species projects in the report include protection of Little Terns in Denbighshire that has enabled the main Welsh breeding colony to become one of the most important in Britain, and peatland restoration in Ceredigion that has maintained the population of Large Heath Butterflies.
What we’re doing about it
What we’re doing about it
With each subsequent State of Nature report our monitoring and measuring of these losses improves and refines. In June 2021 the Senedd declared a nature emergency and Wales has committed to ambitious targets to address nature loss through the new Global Biodiversity Framework.
To support the delivery of these, the Welsh Government has committed to setting legally binding nature recovery targets that will be aligned with a refreshed national biodiversity strategy for Wales before the next Senedd elections in 2026.
We’re asking the Welsh Government to put nature at the heart of all its decision making. One of the main ways they can do this is by supporting nature friendly farming. Learn more about what we’re asking the Welsh Government to do and what nature friendly farming means in this report.