The East of England and the Midlands include some of the most intensive agricultural landscapes in the UK as well as sprawling urban cities. However, despite these environmental pressures, the region includes some of our rarest and most threatened species, as some of England’s most cherished landscapes.

The East of England includes a number of nationally important habitats including the Fens, Broads, Brecks and coastal fringes, all of which support nationally important assemblages of invertebrates, especially flies and beetles, which are found nowhere else in the UK. The Midlands includes nationally important landscapes such as the Cotswolds and Peak District with diverse habitats supporting a wide range of scarce species.

Buglife’s work on B-Lines and Important Invertebrate Areas are both helping to target habitat improvements for invertebrates across the region. As part of the Back from the Brink programme, our Ancients of the Future will ensure a better managed network of deadwood habitats at sites such as Moccas Park and Sherwood Forest, while the Shrill carder bee project is working with Essex landowners to help reverse the declines of one of our rarest bees.

The Thames Estuary has been the focus of much of Buglife’s work to safeguard overlooked invertebrate habitats from being loss to development, including Canvey Wick, Buglife’s first bug reserve which is managed together with the RSPB and Land Trust.