A RYEDALE naturalist is one of the contributing authors on a new manifesto which aims to halt the decline of the nation’s wildlife.

Dr Amy-Jane Beer, from Welburn, is one of 18 “ministers” in the People’s Manifesto for Wildlife, a new initiative led by BBC presenter Chris Packham.

The manifesto was launched in London at the weekend as part of the People’s Walk for Wildlife, which saw 10,000 people take to the streets.

The most recent State of Nature report in 2016 described significant British wildlife losses over recent decades.

“Between 1970 and 2013, 56 per cent of UK species declined,” it said.

“Of the nearly 8,000 species assessed using modern criteria, 15 per cent are threatened with extinction. This suggests that we are among the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

“Of the 218 countries assessed for ‘biodiversity intactness’, the UK is ranked 189, a consequence of centuries of industrialisation, urbanisation and overexploitation of our natural resources.”

The 200-page first draft manifesto is a fully-referenced document - with contributors from disciplines ranging from farming to science - which seeks to start a conversation about ways to reverse these wildlife declines.

In his introduction, Chris Packham said: “We have plenty of tools in the conservation box – we can rebuild, restore, reinstate or reintroduce.

“But we have one collective handicap – we are shying away from seeing the bigger picture.

“Too often we distract ourselves with projects which work, but which are too small to stop the rot.

“We know the bigger issues we need to deal with, and we must summon the courage to face them and fight to fix them.

“Together. So all you farmers, foresters, reserve wardens, teachers, students and children, all of you ‘ologists’, scientists, artists, writers and bloggers, you activists, volunteers, gardeners, can everyone please see that this is not your last chance to make a difference – it’s ours.

“We do not all have to agree about all the details – but we must agree on a shared agenda.

“We must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all of those who care enough to take some action and be part of making a difference.”

In her foreword to the “ministry of social inclusion and access to nature”, biologist and nature writer Dr Beer said: “Nature is a human need – central to the quality of our most fundamental physiological requirements (water, air, food), as well as our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Thus access to diverse nature should be recognised as a human right.”

The ministry includes recommendations to make nature reserves more accessible to people of any physical ability and increase representation of women and minorities in the conservation field.

This summer, Dr Beer led a successful campaign to get the children’s wildlife book The Lost Words into all schools in North Yorkshire.

The Lost Words was written in 2017 in response to news that a host of words describing the natural world - from acorn to otter - were being cut from the Oxford Junior Dictionary as they fall out of the lexicon of young people.

The campaign went ran for five weeks and raised more than £7,500 to buy copies of the book and accompanying teaching materials for schools.

Dr Beer and East Yorkshire storyteller Paddy Hall were supported in their campaign by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT), Waterstones Hull and a charity called Ready Steady Read, set up to help some of the most deprived children in the region with their reading.

The full document The People’s Manifesto for Wildlife can be found on Chris Packham’s website at chrispackham.co.uk