Bid to raise £1m to save declining wildlife

A charity is aiming to raise £1m to restore and protect wildlife in Surrey.

Surrey Wildlife Trust said the "climate and biodiversity crisis" was threatening the county's natural habitats.

It added that one third of the county's species, including hedgehogs, yellowhammers, European eels, lesser spotted woodpeckers, harvest mice, hazel dormice and wrynecks, were "in serious decline or already extinct".

The charity's chief executive, Sarah-Jane Chimbwandira, said: "Now is the time to think and act, nature's decline must stop here."

Ms Chimbwandira said the funds would go towards the charity's Save Surrey's Nature project.

This includes restoring and expanding "Surrey's most diverse and threatened habitats", including chalk grasslands, woodland and wetlands.

The charity said healthier and better-connected habitats would help wildlife thrive.

It added the 2023 State of Nature report revealed one in six species were at risk of extinction in the UK.

"We will be working closely with businesses, landowners and public bodies to make sure that wildlife doesn't just thrive in protected pockets of habitat, but also in the places in which we live and work," Ms Chimbwandira said.

So far, the charity has raised more than £529,000.

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