IN less than 20 years, something as familiar as a hedgehog or sparrow could become a rare sight, if more isn’t done to safeguard our green land.

That was the message given out to more than 700 members of Essex Wildlife Trust at their annual meeting at Abbot’s Hall Farm, in Great Wigborough, near Colchester, on Saturday.

Supported by Springwatch presenter Chris Packham, who made a guest appearance at the meeting, trust officials emphasised the importance of protecting and maintaining essential living space for birds and small mammals struggling to survive in our region.

Wearing a campaign T-shirt stating: “Closing down sale: 90 per cent off all British Wildlife”, the BBC presenter and vice-chairman of the trust’s national operation, Mr Packham, said more must be done by individuals, businesses and the Government to keep, maintain and cultivate habitat for wildlife.

Mr Packham, who made his name on children’s nature programme the Really Wild Show, presented lifetime membership awards to two dedicated trust volunteers.

Bob Hills and Ray Tabor have between them clocked up 54 years of volunteering with the conservation charity, support which is vital to keep the trust in operation. Michelle Kench, spokeswoman for the trust, echoed Mr Packham’s warning, and reiterated the importance of public support.

She said: “We don’t want to panic people, because if you go out into the country and walk around, you can still see plenty of wildlife.

“However, the fact is, we desperately need to increase the areas of habitat if wildlife is to survive in the Essex area and beyond.”

She added: “In 1777, when the first map of Essex was produced, you could walk on heathland all the way from Colchester to Maldon. Now all that remains is 25 hectares. Essex Wildlife Trust has more than 2,000 volunteers and their small membership fee provides core funding, allowing us to do much of our conservation work across the county.

“I would urge everyone to consider joining Essex Wildlife Trust to support our work and to help us protect wildlife for future generations to enjoy, as well as having access to some wonderful, wildlife-rich countryside.”

The figures speak for themselves, with vital habitat for creatures being steadily lost each year.

More than 90 per cent of wildflower meadows and 72 per cent of coastal marshes have gone because of urbanisation since 1930, leading to a dramatic decline in many trees and birds and small mammals.

Skylark numbers halved between 1969 and 1991, and the song thrush has declined by 73 per cent since the mid Seventies.

In Essex, only 200 mature black poplar trees remain, with 40 per cent of our saltmarsh lost in the past 40 years.

Thankfully, in Colchester and the surrounding area, the trust has managed to preserve several thriving nature reserves, including Abberton Reservoir, Lexden Gathering Grounds, Fingringhoe Wick and Tiptree Heath.

Recent projects by the trust include moving 300 water voles, which was successfully carried out this month.

The endangered voles were re-homed by conservation experts to the river banks of the River Colne, at the Fordham Hall Estate, near Colchester, from the deep sea container port at Thurrock.

More than 94 per cent of water voles have been lost in the Essex area since 2000, making it the fastest declining mammal in the country. Numbers fell from around seven million in 1990, to around one million in 1998.

The voles, made famous by “Ratty” in the Wind in the Willows, were placed in holding cages with bedding and food for the 50-mile journey, in one of the largest wildlife translocations ever seen in the UK.

While major projects like these are important to keep wildlife surviving, the trust also emphasises the importance of individual effort.

It advises people to be sympathetic to wildlife while gardening, not to tidy too much, to keep dead wood piles for invertebrates and not to clear away all the leaves in the autumn, leaving them under bushes as ideal habitat for hedgehogs, as well as putting up bird boxes and building a wildlife pond.

For more information, visit www.essexwt.org.uk