Last week the government unveiled a new indicator for priority threatened species in the UK – described by conservationists as "the FTSE Index for threatened wildlife." The official statistics use records dating back 40 years for 210 native species, including birds, bats, moths, butterflies, hares and dormice, to build a picture of the health of our wildlife.

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However, although wildlife groups have welcomed closer attention to species under threat, the figures paint a worrying picture of the health of Britain's threatened wildlife. The statistics show that, on average, at risk species have declined by 58 percent since 1970.

The statistics echo the findings of the State of Nature report, launched in May by Sir David Attenborough and compiled by 25 wildlife groups.

The list of species included features many of those deemed a priority because of the threats they face, and were chosen to represent wildlife in all four countries of the UK. 

Some have benefited from conservation efforts in recent years, such as red kites and greater horseshoe bats, but others, including the high brown fritillary butterfly and the skylark, have declined, apparently with little attention being paid to their plight.

The Government has previously published indicators for individual wildlife groups including birds, bats and butterflies – but never before has there been a wider view, comprehensively documenting the overall health of Britain's wildlife.

Several wildlife species groups have not been included in the current indicator, such as plants, molluscs and fungi, due to difficulties associated with recording long-term trends. However, what information is available suggests that these too are suffering similar declines. Conservationists estimate 97 per cent of the UK's wild flower meadows have been lost and 1-in-5 of all UK flowering plant species are threatened with extinction, according to an exhaustive research project.

Richard Gregory, Head of Species Monitoring at RSPB commented, "This new indicator… is showing a steady and very worrying decline. What this new official biodiversity statistic does is act as an indicator of the health of our countryside. Every year the Government will be publishing these figures in the same way that they publish school league tables and crime statistics. We hope they will be a powerful new tool in the fight to halt the loss of our threatened native wildlife.

"These species were chosen mainly because they are under threat. Some of them are safer now than they were 40 years ago because of the hard work of conservationists, volunteers and government agencies – and we must celebrate some fantastic success stories - but the trend is downwards for 70 per cent of the species on this list."

Joan Edwards, The Wildlife Trusts' Head of Living Seas, added, "The State of Nature report earlier this year showed that 60 per cent of the UK species assessed were in decline, and over one in 10 threatened with extinction. We hope that this official indicator for priority species takes that one step further and ensures that the problems facing our native species are factored into Government decision making."