The conservation community likes to produce reports. Some of you may think we produce too many. But if we had to ditch all of them and pick just one to keep this year then it would have to be something that is arriving in May.

It’s called The State of Nature and for most of you reading this it will be the first you’ve heard about it – but I am confident you will hear a lot more in the coming weeks.

If you’re a member of the RSPB then you’ll know all about what we do. You may also be a member or supporter of some other organisations we work alongside – the Wildlife Trusts, for example, who probably manage the local nature reserve you like to go for a walk in at weekends. Butterfly Conservation who do so much great work for our most threatened butterflies and moths. WWT – founded by one of our greatest conservationists, Sir Peter Scott, and involved in amazing work for wetland wildlife to this day. Plantlife who I cut my teeth with as its Conservation Director for five years until I moved to the RSPB in 2004. Then there’s Buglife, the BTO, the Bat Conservation Trust, any many more – all doing fantastic work to conserve nature.

On May 22 – International Biodiversity Day - for the first time ever all these organisations will be getting together to make a big noise about nature in the UK and the UK Overseas Territories. All the latest scientific data on everything that grows, creeps, crawls, flutters and flaps on these islands and in our seas will be compiled in one report to create the biggest clearest picture yet of what is happening to our wildlife. The ups, the downs, the threats and the conservation successes.

The main launch will be held at the Natural History Museum in London – which I’m very excited to say that Sir David Attenborough will be supporting – and there will also be launches in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff.

So what does this report say? Well of course I’m not going to tell you right now, where’s the fun in that? But whatever it says about nature – it’s going to be a message politicians, business leaders and the public cannot ignore. Watch this space... 

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