The RSPB is calling on the people of Dorset to act to protect the wildlife they love, as it says the government has launched “an unprecedented attack on nature and the laws that protect it.”

The RSPB says the government plans to amend or scrap crucial environmental laws, including the Habitats Regulations, which protect some of the most vulnerable wildlife and green places across England. Regulations that ensure clean water, beaches and rivers are also under threat, according to the charity.

Plans were also announced in September to create at least 38 ‘Investment Zones’ which could trash planning rules – meaning housing and commercial developments could be incentivised to damage nature with little or no restriction.

Now the RSPB is appealing to people across Dorset to urgently contact their MPs to tell them how they feel.

The RSPB’s director of policy and advocacy, Jeff Knott, said: “The impact [of these government actions] will be far-reaching, mountain to coast. It will affect habitats and species. Nowhere will be safe. We knew this new government was likely to make nature a low priority, but the scale and pace of these announcements is truly shocking.

“We are angry, yet we are immensely grateful for the support we have received on this, and we will continue fighting for the best outcome for nature.

“Now we are readying ourselves to fight the biggest attack on nature in a generation and are calling on our partners, supporters, and people who love their local wildlife, to help by contacting their MPs and making themselves heard.”

According to the RSPB, the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries on the planet, with more than 40 per cent of species in decline.

Jeff said: “These government proposals will rip up the laws that have for decades provided basic protection for our best wildlife sites, along with other laws protecting our air, rivers, wildlife and food standards.

“The shocking proposal to liberalise planning rules and “release land” in the newly announced investment zones are also of huge concern to us. It would appear that these zones would allow developers to build carte blanche on some of our last remaining wildlife sites. To us they look less like investment zones and more likes destruction zones.”

“The economy, our food security and our own health and well-being are wholly reliant on a healthy environment. That’s been the conclusion every time government has looked at environmental protections over decades, so we’re furious that just when we need to push on with a decade of action, government instead seems to be launching an all out attack on nature.

“Nature is already in trouble, and we all depend on a healthy environment; taken together, these announcements, combined with the rumoured watering down of the new land management schemes for farming, could be the final nail in its coffin.

“We are in a nature and climate emergency. Anyone who cares about nature needs to speak to their MP urgently to stop the government rushing this through with no scrutiny.”

To find out how to help, and how to contact your local MP, visit https://bit.ly/attackonnature