Conservationists laud UK recoveries but warn slump in wildlife continues

Spectacular feeding frenzies of Atlantic bluefin tuna, surging numbers of glow-worms, and a record-breaking breeding season for pied flycatchers are among the British wildlife highlights of 2023.

- Patrick Barkham

But conservationists warned. that overall wildlife continued to decline, with one in six species at risk of extinction, and that wildlife was being challenged in new ways by global heating, disease and other destructive human activities.

There were multiple reports of "bait ball" feeding frenzies from Scotland to the Isles of Scilly involving whales, dolphins and bluefin tuna. These spectacles occur when predators force fish such as mackerel to cluster in a dense ball before cetaceans and tuna as well as opportunistic seabirds plunge in to feed.

The rise in sightings of bluefin tuna, once common in British. waters, is linked to restrictions on fishing over the past 15 years, as well as warming seas. Bluefin tuna has now been removed from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of endangered species and limited fishing in British waters has resumed.

Dr Lissa Batey, head of marine conservation at the Wildlife Trusts, said: "This fantastic fish has returned from the brink of extinction. The risk of decimating the population for a second time remains high, so it is vital commercial fishing quotas be set realistically and enforced. When we give nature space, wildlife can recover. It's as simple as that. We must act faster to protect the UK target of [conserving] 30% of seas by 2030."

On land, success stories included the highest number of glow-worms -303 glowing females - at the Whitecross Green Wood nature reserve in Oxfordshire since recording them began there in 1999, and record numbers of natterjack toadlets in Cheshire. In both cases the rare and declining species were boosted by targeted conservation management.