'We're losing what makes Yorkshire special': Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

But it also reveals that many of them are increasingly under threat, with nearly 2,000 species lost from Yorkshire in the last 200 years and a further 3,000 species - including favourites like swifts and curlews - at risk.

“We are losing what makes Yorkshire so special, and sleepwalking towards homogenised landscapes where only the most common and adaptable species can survive alongside the demands of human life,” said Rachael Bice, the chief executive of the York-based Yorkshire Wildlife Trust which has published the ‘State of Yorkshire’s Nature’ report.

To coincide with the report’s publication, the wildlife trust is calling for a ‘widespread movement across Yorkshire to drive nature’s recovery at pace’.

Southerscales limestone pavement (Image: Graham Standring)

It says action will need to focus on Yorkshire’s unique limestone, wetland and marine habits, where wildlife diversity is particularly at risk.

And it has asked candidates for all parties in the ongoing general election campaign to commit to protecting Yorkshire’s wildlife by supporting policies for nature recovery and nature-friendly farming.

Some of the findings of the report, which has been compiled and analysed over two years with the help of environmental organisations, include:

• 191 bird species either breed in Yorkshire or are regular winter visitors. But two thirds of these are at risk and either red- or amber-listed nationally
• There has been a 50 per cent decline in the number of swifts in Yorkshire - because of the rapid decline in insect numbers and suitable roosting sites - and a ‘significant’ decline in willow tits, the UK’s most threatened resident bird species.

The number of swifts in Yorkshire has declined by 50 per cent (Image: Stefan Johansson)

• On the plus side, there has been an increase in the Yorkshire breeding population of tree sparrows, which are in decline across the country as a whole
• There has been a 69 per cent decline in the number of red squirrels in Yorkshire.

There has been a 69 per cent fall in the number of red squirrels in Yorkshire (Image: Margaret Holland)

• Invasive species, such as the American mink, are a serious threat to native mammals
• Almost all Yorkshire’s lowland rivers are now ‘intensively managed’ which means many river plants are now confined to canals and ponds
• Many of Yorkshire's lowland rivers are 'intensively managed', making life difficult for wild plants and creatures like this water vole (Image: Stephan Morris)
• Yorkshire still has the UK’s largest mainland breeding seabird colony at Flamborough Head and the Filey coast, including the only mainland breeding gannets in England. But seabird breeding success varies; herring gulls and guillemots are declining, but kittiwakes are recovering from a long-term decline
• Since 1900, the Seagrass meadows in the Humber Estuary off Spurn Point - the last remaining patch of Seagrass in Yorkshire - have shrunk by more than 98 per cent, from 480 hectares to just 7 hectares.

A seagrass meadow such as that off Spurn Point (Image: Georgia Bennett)

Wildlife trust CEO Rachael Bice said: “Sadly, many of the species we share this amazing county with have been pushed to the brink of collapse.

“It would be a true tragedy for everyone who calls Yorkshire home if we lost the haunting call of the curlew, the abundance of gannets and puffins on our coastal cliffs, and the uplifting sight of butterflies dancing across our wildflower meadows.

“However, I have hope that this new analysis can direct how we can all work together to reverse declines and see our wildlife bounce back – before it is too late.”

You can read the full ‘State of Yorkshire’s Nature’ report on the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust website at www.ywt.org.uk/