Natural England has launched the most complete audit of hundreds of years of England’s wildlife winners and losers to an audience of leading conservationists at the Zoological Society of London today (11 March).

With the welcome sights and sounds of spring tentatively emerging, now is the ideal time to look at ways in which we can all help wildlife recover from the harshness of Britain’s long, cold winter.

Prehistoric prints to become England’s newest geological conservation site

Natural England announced today (19th January 2010) that the dinosaur footprints and tracks at Ardley Trackways, near Bicester in Oxfordshire, have been notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, making it the first SSSI to be designated by Natural England for its geological features alone. There is now a four month period for public responses, following which Natural England’s Board will decide whether to confirm the designation.

Dr Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, said: “Geological sites of this quality and importance are few and far between and we are delighted to give this important window on our past the protection that it so clearly deserves.”

Lundy Island, one of England’s most spectacular marine habitats, has today become England’s first Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ).

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Its new status establishes it as the first example of the new approach to marine protection being taken under the Marine and Coastal Access Act, which will contribute towards the creation of the network of ecologically coherent and well-managed marine protected areas by 2012.

One of Britain's rarest mammals - the pine marten – is about to receive a helping hand, as work gets under way to track England’s remaining populations of this beautiful, elusive and severely threatened species.

A relative of the stoat and the otter, pine martens were once a common woodland animal, but habitat loss and historic persecution have resulted in a severe decline in this native species. Numbers in England and Wales are now at worryingly low levels and sightings are now extremely rare.

Natural England teams up with The Vincent Wildlife Trust to protect rare woodland mammal

One of Britain's rarest mammals - the pine marten – is about to receive a helping hand, as work gets under way to track England’s remaining populations of this beautiful, elusive and severely threatened species.

A relative of the stoat and the otter, pine martens were once a common woodland animal, but habitat loss and historic persecution have resulted in a severe decline in this native species. Numbers in England and Wales are now at worryingly low levels and sightings are now extremely rare.