Species under threat to get a £90m lifeline

MINISTERS have pledged £90 million in funding to help safeguard hundreds of England's most threatened native wildlife from extinction.

- REBECCA SPEARE-COLE

> Seahorses are among the species set to benefit; below, lady's slipper orchids have been brought back from the brink

(Andrey Nekrasov/Getty Images)

The money, which the Environment Department (Defra) says is the largest-ever investment in species protection, will go towards efforts to support or reintroduce animals such as birds, beavers, beetles, snails, spiders and seahorses across England.

Hundreds of local projects will receive a share of £60 million through Natural England’s species recovery programme over the next three years, Defra said.

And a further £30 million will be dedicated to species recovery across England's national forest estate.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: "This long-term commitment is a decisive step towards reversing the decline of nature and protecting it for generations to come."

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with researchers finding that wildlife populations have fallen by a third since 1970, and one in six species are at risk of extinction.