Actor Stephen Fry backs Lancashire wildlife campaign to restore nature by 2030

The 30 by 30 campaign, which runs through 46 Wildlife Trusts in the UK, including Lancashire, hopes to make more space for nature and give struggling wildlife the chance to recover.

Actor Stephen Fry, a keen animal rights activist, has voiced his support for the campaign in a bid to encourage the public to preserve UK wildlife and nature.

One of the projects as part of the campaign includes the Fylde Sand Dunes Project, set up in partnership with Blackpool and Fylde Councils and funded by the Environment Agency.

Over the past 150 years, over 80 per cent of the sand dunes in Lancashire have been lost, and the project aims to encourage visitors to the dunes in a way which does not threaten their existence.

The Dunes Project also hopes to improve the dunes' use as sea defences, increasing their width by encouraging natural growth.

Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts charities, said: "The next ten years must be a time of renewal, of re-wilding our lives, of green recovery.

"We all need nature more than ever and when we succeed in reaching 30 by 30 we’ll have wilder landscapes that store carbon and provide on-your-doorstep nature for people too.

"Everyone can support and help us to succeed."

In support of the 30 by 30 campaign, actor Stephen Fry said: "In my lifetime we’ve seen a catastrophic decline in our wildlife.

"Species are in danger of disappearing altogether and we’ve taken nature for granted for too long.

"Something big needs to happen to change this.

"I relish bold action and The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 by 30 ambition is the most audacious and courageous I’ve seen in a very long time."

As well as the dunes project, Lancashire Wildlife Trust's campaign will also see peatlands restored, wildlife species reintroduced, and more protection for red squirrels in Lancashire and Merseyside.

Funds raised for the charity will go towards nature recovery projects that will put new land aside for nature, as well as repair and link existing fragmented areas to enable wildlife to move around.