MORE than 100 conservationists, business leaders, landowners, celebrities and academics from the south west have signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling on him to make a public commitment to urgently address the decline of wildlife in the region.

The call follows the shocking State of the Nature report published in May, which showed serious declines in a wide range of species.

Tony Richardson, regional director for the RSPB in the Dorset region, said: “We need clear leadership and collective action to restore what has been lost.”

The letter describes three actions that the government can take: accelerating full marine area protection; guaranteeing support for high nature farming; and giving clear guidance to Local Enterprise Partnerships to invest in “natural capital”.