£8m raised in six months for Wildlife Trusts' campaign to restore nature by 2030

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

One of the projects undertaken 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.

Funds raised for the campaign will be used to "buy land to provide new homes for wildlife and allow nature to thrive in increasing abundance across wilder, joined-up places," The Wildlife Trusts said.

Sir David Attenborough president emeritus of The Wildlife Trusts, added: "“If given a chance, nature is capable of extraordinary recovery.

"The Wildlife Trusts’ campaign to secure 30 per cent of our land and sea for nature’s recovery by 2030 offers us the vision and level of ambition that is urgently needed to reverse the loss of nature, and so improve all our lives.

“We are facing a global extinction crisis which has implications for every one of us. It’s tempting to assume that the loss of wildlife and wild places is a problem that’s happening on the other side of the world.

"The truth is that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries on the planet and the situation is getting worse."

As well as the dunes project, Lancashire Wildlife Trust 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.