Recommendation 24

Revised versions of Natural England’s ‘Red List’ and the ‘biodiversity indicators’ used to measure changes in abundance should include a minimum of one species per family, which would result in a significant increase in invertebrate representation. In response to this report, the Government should set out what steps it is taking to gain approval from members of the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, so that data from species excluded from the 2022 Red List can be included in future iterations. Additionally, a detailed breakdown of how current data from the monitoring of excluded invertebrate species influence both the interim and final statutory biodiversity targets, should be published routinely. This should be in the form of an alternative ‘Baseline List’ to include species where the availability of data does not pass the threshold for inclusion in the ‘Red List’, but where evidence is available to determine a baseline conservation 50 Insect decline and UK food security status. This ‘Baseline List’ should include as many excluded insect species as possible, to act as baseline statistics from which all future interim and final progress reporting for the biodiversity targets will be made.