Unchecked wildlife is disappearing without us knowing, say experts

Conservationists have warned that "wildlife could be disappearing in the dark," after figures showed that three-quarters of England's most precious habitats, wildlife and natural features have had no recent assessment of their condition.

- Ben Quinn

The warning follows the publication of figures covering assessments of protected natural sites known as sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) in the past five years.

Each SSSI is legally protected because they contain special features such as threatened habitats or rare species, and cover more than 1.1m hectares (2.7m acres), about 8% of England's land area.

But nearly two-fifths of the habitats and other features for which SSSIs are protected were in an unfavourable condition, according to figures from the conservation agency Natural England.

They also show that only 3,384 or about 25% - of features had been assessed for their condition between the start of 2019 and last month. It leaves 10,148, or 75%, without an up-to-date assessment of how they are faring.