Dorset's wildlife and habitat is at 'extreme risk'

The trust, which has 40 nature reserves, said plans to weaken the legal protections for nature goes against the party’s mandate they were elected to govern on. 

Chief executive of the trust Brian Bleese said he is “deeply concerned” about the plans, which include lifting the ban on fracking and introducing a new planning and infrastructure bill which would “threaten to weaken vital protections for habitats and wildlife”. 

Mr Bleese added: “Reversing plans to support nature-friendly farming and abandoning regulations that protect nature could decimate local wildlife, which is already suffering steep declines.  

Dorset Wildlife Trust: Yellow Hammer (Image: Chris Gomersall)

“Since 1970, more than 40 per cent of species have declined in abundance, with 26 per cent of mammals at risk of disappearing altogether. In Dorset over 400 species recorded in the past are now thought to be extinct in the county.” 

Dorset Wildlife Trust is now calling on the public to contact their MPs and councillors and tell them of their concerns about the “dangerous” plans and to let them know “deregulation is unacceptable”. 

“These destructive proposals will affect not just Dorset's wildlife and wild places, but also the green spaces where we live, food security and our fight against the impacts of climate change,” added Mr Bleese. 

Dorset Wildlife Trust: Hedgehog (Image: Dorset Wildlife Trust)

The RSPB also urged Dorset residents to sound the alarm on what it calls an “unprecedented attack on nature and the laws that protect it by the UK Government.” 

Elsewhere BCP Council’s Green Party councillors have written to their Tory counterparts to join them in condemning what they refer to as an “attack on nature” by the government. 

Read more: RSPB urges action in Dorset over environment laws

Read more: BCP Greens call for Tory action over Investment Zones

Dorset Wildlife Trust: Combine harvester (Image: Dorset Wildlife Trust)

Cllrs Chris Rigby and Simon Bull called for action on the government's plans, which also includes the introduction of Investment Zones – where rules on nature protection would in effect be suspended to streamline planning permissions. 

In response, council deputy leader Phil Broadhead said his party’s environmental plan is “clear”, stating BCP was among the first to make the proposed Biodiversity Net Gain measures and introduced the £20million Green Futures Fund to tackle climate issues.