Nature and the environment have not been on the agenda in a decade of general elections, referendums and leadership contests.

And the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is asking nature lovers to demand that wildlife is at the top of the agenda in next year’s General Election as part of the #VoteWildlife campaign.

Wildlife Trusts Chief Executive Craig Bennet said: “The next government will be the one responsible for ensuring 30 per cent of our land and sea is connected and protected for nature’s recovery by 2030.”

In the North West, the Trust will be asking members and supporters to support its five key asks for any future government.

And they must compel prospective parliamentary candidates and sitting MPs that their votes will depend on policies to:

· Bring back our lost wildlife;

· End river pollution;

· Fund wildlife-friendly farming;

· Green our communities;

· Tackle the climate emergency.

These asks are based on the Wildlife Trusts’ campaigns to ensure 30 per cent of the UK is set aside for wildlife by 2030 and to ensure that one in four people take action for nature. The Trusts believe it would be the beginning of a reversal of the biodiversity crisis that is threatening mass extinctions of species across the planet.

Dr Tom Burditt, Chief Executive of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust said: “We are in both a climate crisis and a nature crisis and the two are linked. It’s not just something that you see on TV, we are finding plants and animals vanishing from our moorlands, woodlands and rivers.

“Here at your local Wildlife Trust we are proud to have a focus on practical positive action for nature that we can all be taking together, but we also desperately need government policy to be supporting us: leading us through its policies, laws, schemes and financial investments to be doing the right things to ensure that we genuinely leave the natural world in a better state for our children.”

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust campaign has been launched just as the publication of the State of Nature 2023 report is proving that wildlife is in need of urgent help.

The report, by the UK’s leading conservation organisations, shows:

· One in six species is now at risk of being lost from Great Britain

· The wildlife studied has, on average, declined by 19 per cent since monitoring began in 1970

· Most important habitats are in poor condition, though restoration projects have clear benefits for nature, people and adapting to climate change

Lancashire Wildlife Trust President Chris Davies said: "Policymakers should not underestimate the concern that people feel about damage to nature and the loss of species. The wish to halt and reverse the decline in biodiversity is widely shared.

"We all have a role to play in ensuring that the issue becomes a regular feature of political discussions, and the Wildlife Trusts have the particular task of demonstrating in practical ways that we really can make a difference for the better, and ensure that there is an abundance of life."

People’s concern about nature loss, climate change and degraded wild places is a significant voting issue. The Wildlife Trusts are calling on politicians of all parties to commit to an ambitious programme of policies to support nature’s recovery.

And the Lancashire Wildlife Trust wants the region to lead the way with millions of voices joining our movement, getting nature higher on the agenda and persuading politicians to support our #VoteWildlife campaign.

Head of Campaigns Alan Wright said: “This is a vitally important moment for some of the wildlife that you have loved seeing and hearing throughout you lives, hedgehogs, skylarks, badgers and even starlings and sparrows. I cannot imagine life without these wonderful wild creatures and the Wildlife Trust will do everything in our power to ensure future generations experience the same wonderful wildlife that we have had in our lives.

“We must persuade all of our decision makers that protecting wildlife and reversing the biodiversity crisis is so serious that it must be at the top of their agenda. The next government of this country really needs to support wildlife, so make sure your next MP is on board and #VoteWildlife.”

To learn more about Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s #VoteWildlife campaign, click here.