Wales, along with the other countries of the UK and like most other regions worldwide, has experienced a significant loss of biodiversity. The trends presented in the State of Nature 2023 report cover, at most, 50 years, but these follow on from major changes to Wales’ nature over previous centuries. As a result, Wales is now one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. 18% of all  species are threatened with extinction.

The main causes of these declines are clear, as are some of the ways in which we can reduce impacts and help struggling species. The evidence from the last 50 years shows that on land and in freshwater significant and ongoing changes in the way we manage our land for agriculture, and the effects of climate change, are having the biggest impacts on our wildlife. At sea, and around our coasts, the main pressures on nature are pollution, climate change, over exploitation (historic fisheries), invasive species and marine development.

It is clear that despite some progress to restore ecosystems, save species and move towards nature-friendly land and sea use, Wales’ biodiversity and wider environment continues to decline and degrade. With each subsequent State of Nature report our monitoring and measuring of these losses improves and refines. Wales has committed to ambitious targets to address nature loss through the new Global Biodiversity Framework. A response commensurate with the scale of the crisis will require collaboration between public, private and voluntary sectors.

The State of Nature 2023 report presents trends in abundance (for 753 species) and distribution (for around 9,000 species) for terrestrial and freshwater species across the UK, and trends in abundance for over 100 marine species (demersal fish, marine mammals and seabirds) and distribution for 437 species (benthic invertebrates, fish and algae).

The summary report can be accessed and downloaded here.