6:30pm Friday 12th March 2010
By Lucy Pearce
MORE than 20 species have become extinct in Dorset over the past two centuries.
These are among nearly 500 animals and plants that have faced extinction across England.
People in the county are being reminded that it is not only species like the tiger that face extinction; there are many of these ‘lost species’ in Dorset too.
These include the better-known species like the red squirrel and the less known ones like the plant bearded stonewort which was lost from the Abbotsbury area in the 1980s.
Natural England, the independent public body which aims to protect and improve the natural environment, has launched a report to chart the decline and extinction of many species including those in Dorset.
The report, Lost Life: England’s Lost And Threatened Species, comes as the United Nations declares 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity.
According to Gwilym Wren from Natural England, such life can be found virtually anywhere but survival depends on complex and varied circumstances.
He said: “If something changes or is lost or damaged then the animal or plant that depends on it is at risk.
“Of course species adapt but only if given time and space, which is why the world risks losing some of its most iconic species like the tiger.
“But extinction does not just happen abroad, they have been happening in Dorset too.
“We must take more care of our environment because it is weakened every time a single species is lost.”
But conservation efforts have meant wild asparagus has been successfully reintroduced in Weymouth.
Damage to the Dorset heaths, with their scarce populations of sand lizards and smooth snakes, has also been reduced, and conservation initiatives, including those at Radipole, have led to the reappearance of the otter.
The threatened coral pink sea fan is still found in Lyme Bay.
It is also hoped that a major programme of reed bed restoration will bring bittern’s to breed at Radipole Lake in Weymouth.
Chief executive of Natural England Dr Helen Phillips said: “Coinciding with the International Year of Biodiversity, this report is a powerful reminder that we cannot take our wildlife for granted and that we all lose when biodiversity declines.”
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