A landmark Citizens' Assembly on the future of animal welfare has called for a 'Community Habitat Service' to protect the nation's wildlife - among 15 other recommendations to transform animals' lives.

Forty-four people who took part in the Citizens' Assembly have made a set of recommendations aiming to create a better future for every animal - including plans for members of the public to be called up to actively take part in restoring local habitats and protect nature.

Better protection for wildlife was one of the key recommendations of the assembly, which also wanted to see enforcement of wildlife-friendly development, with developers and communities held accountable for the welfare of wild animals in their neighbourhood.

The assembly's recommendations for wildlife, farmed animals and pets feature in the RSPCA's new report 'Animal Futures: Our plan for a better world' - which will be unveiled at the charity's annual Wilberforce Lecture in London this evening (6 November).

Under the plans for the Community Habitat Service, local authorities and environmental bodies would work with local wildlife and animal welfare groups to identify local priority areas where wildlife habitats need support - and call on local residents to take part.

RSPCA leaders support the proposals - and hope to explore the development of a similar service with the UK and Welsh Governments and local authorities.

RSPCA Assistant Director of Advocacy, Policy and Prevention Gemma Hope said: "A Community Habitat Service is one of many exciting, innovative proposals to come out of this first ever Citizens' Assembly for Animal Welfare.

"We know from our 2025 Kindness Index that better protection of wildlife is the number one issue people want us to tackle. This recommendation would see local governments supporting local communities to become responsible for the welfare of the wildlife in their neighbourhoods.

"By working with community groups and identifying opportunities to restore nature, local government and the voluntary sector can bring people together, offer life-changing opportunities and protect habitats in our local areas. It's a win-win for everybody."

The citizens also wanted to see wildlife-friendly development which put animal welfare first. This comes as the government is under fire for its controversial new Planning and Infrastructure Bill which weakens protections for wild animals and their habitats.

Other ideas put forward by the assembly include: pet lifetime certificates which track an animal throughout its life on a national database, to tackle poor breeding, selling and care;  ending shooting of animals for sport, animal welfare on the curriculum at every stage of a child's life; and supporting farmers to farm to higher welfare standards, including fairer and more transparent pricing for higher welfare food and measures to end lower welfare farming by 2035.

Gemma continued: "The message of this Citizens' Assembly is clear - animal welfare really matters to people and the government needs to take notice. They are not just concerned about the pets who share their home, but farmed animal welfare and the wild animals in their communities.

"One of the striking things we discovered when people took part in the assembly was that the more informed they were about the reality of the way animals were treated, the more passionate they became. Several members of the assembly have reported changing their diets as a result of learning about how animals are farmed for food.

"These recommendations will help us to demonstrate to governments and industry that people in the UK care about the future of animal welfare and they want a fairer, more sustainable and more compassionate society with animal welfare at its heart. The assembly's work will help us to drive forward the change we all want to see for a better future for animals."

The Citizens' Assembly is part of the Animal Futures: The Big Conversation, which saw 10,000 people engage with a discussion about the future of animal welfare. The assembly, the first of its kind for animals, met over six weeks to debate the issues and devise a set of recommendations.

The full list of 15 recommendations are:

Pet Ownership and breeding:

1. Recording how pets are bred, sold and cared for using Pet Lifetime Certificates
2. Conducting campaigns to build awareness around pet ownership
3. Teaching animal welfare in schools
4. Creating a dedicated regulatory body for pets

Farming Now:

1. Increasing welfare standards for farmed animals
2. Ensuring transparent, fair prices for higher welfare meat
3. Providing greater support for higher welfare farming
4. Embedding animal welfare into the future of land use and farming

Farming in future:

1. Welfare labelling and building awareness at point of purchase
2. Supporting the growth and uptake of alternative proteins
3. Regulating how precision breeding and gene editing is used in farming

Human impact on wild animals:

1. Strengthening existing wildlife laws and resourcing for their enforcement
2. Creating a Community Habitat Service
3. Banning activities where animals are shot for sport
4. Advocating for, regulating and enforcing wildlife-friendly development

The report will be unveiled as part of the RSPCA's Wilberforce Lecture this evening - which will include a panel discussion featuring Jane Lawton from the Earth Species Project, the RSPCA's Director of Advocacy and Prevention Thomas Schultz-Jagow and writer, researcher and broadcaster, and RSPCA Vice President, Melanie Challenger.

Melanie said: "It's always a privilege to speak at this event, and especially now as we will discuss some of the ideas to come out of the Citizens' Assembly.

"Animals face enormous challenges today - from climate change to the rapid rise of transformative technology.

"That's why citizens' assemblies and other inclusive approaches are both necessary and worthwhile - allowing the public themselves to make their values and their desires to help animals heard, and to come up with ideas that government and the sector must take really seriously."

Visit www.rspca.org.uk/whatwedo/latest/animalfutures/recommendations to read the RSPCA report Animal Futures: Our plan for a better world.