BBC News reports conservation experts are calling on the prime minister to commit to protecting nature. The Making Space for Nature panel has written to Boris Johnson advocating “bigger, better and more joined up spaces for nature”. The letter was headed by Prof Sir John Lawton, who chaired a review of wildlife sites in 2010.

The UN’s latest global biodiversity report shows that the world has failed to fully meet any of its targets to halt damage to natural habitats. The announcement follows a report by WWF and the Zoological Society of London that shows animal populations globally have plunged by 68% in the last 50 years.