Phase I Research Briefing

May 14, 2026

Following the Wild Britain Forum Assembly at the Linnean Society, we are pleased to release the Phase I research briefing commissioned by WBF Environmental Restoration Ltd examining globally threatened species distribution, protection gaps, and biodiversity pressures across the United Kingdom.

The research report is available here.

Using publicly available datasets including JNCC, IUCN, GBIF, and England SSSI boundary data, the research explored how current species occurrence patterns align with existing protected area frameworks.

Among the findings:

• 231 globally threatened species identified as present in the UK
• 157,487 England occurrence records analysed
• 63.8% of occurrence records falling outside existing SSSI boundaries
• Significant terrestrial and marine protection and delivery gaps identified
• Habitat shifting, ecosystem modification, nutrient loading, and harvest pressures emerging as major threat drivers

The purpose of this work is not to function as a site designation tool, but rather as an initial assessment exercise intended to help inform future discussions around:
• landscape-scale restoration
• species recovery
• OECMs and working landscapes
• marine recovery frameworks
• long-term implementation pathways
• coordinated nature recovery strategy

As biodiversity systems continue to shift under climate and land-use pressure, the challenge increasingly becomes one of coordination, resilience, and adaptive recovery across entire landscapes.

Thank you to everyone involved in the Assembly and research process.

Phase 1 Research Briefing
Report prepared for the Linnean Assembly 2026.
Commissioned by WBF Environmental Restoration Ltd.
Chief Data Scientist: Anna Dudzik.
Data Science Consultant: Will Armstrong / Gaiametric.