This book is designed to appeal to people with a general interest in wildlife and concern for its future, and also to provide an authoritative reference for students of biology, conservation, ecology and environmental science on what has happened to wildlife in Britain and Ireland over the last 50 years. We also discuss how wildlife conservation is planned and managed in Britain and Ireland in the twenty-first century, and Britain's role in managing wildlife conservation overseas.

There is widespread unease about wildlife decline, its reality, severity and longevity. Here my co-authors and I have tried to give an accurate appraisal of the changes that have occurred in a wide range of wildlife species and their habitats, to outline what are urgent priorities now, and to provide some insights into what is likely to happen in the future. There are chapters on each of the vertebrate groups and all of the major invertebrate groups. Insects are covered in more detail than other animal taxonomic groups, partly because they are more numerous, and partly because they underpin many food chains, serving as important food items for other insects, spiders and all the vertebrate classes. At a glance it will be clear that the fauna is covered in more detail than the flora, and that some invertebrate groups, and non-flowering plant groups such as bryophytes, are omitted, simply to keep the volume within reasonable limits.

The geographical scope of the book is, as the title indicates, Britain and Ireland.