Natural England says time running out to stop wildlife decline

England needs a massive "collective endeavour" to halt the country's nature decline, its top conservation official says, after multimillion-pound investments in nature helped dormice, voles, willow tits and other species thrive.

- Damien Gayle

Targeted conservation projects led by Natural England, as part of its £13m species recovery programme, have supported the recovery of 150 species, according to findings published today.

As part of the work, conservationists relocated more than 15,000 individual animals and plants to expand species' territories, and bred more than 12,000 individual invertebrates, mammals and birds in captivity for release into the wild.

Natural England says rare species have returned to areas where they have not been seen for generations.

In Hastings, East Sussex, the rare hawksbeard mining bee was discovered for the first time in a century buzzing between blooms in newly created wildflower meadows.

In Northamptonshire, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire, projects created new wetlands, ponds and bankside habitats for water voles, including 420 that were captive-bred and released to help increase population numbers.