Caroline Lucas (Journal, 5 December) is right to say that nature and wildlife should be issues for voters and points to the need for a national policy. Our statutory conservation agencies are not mentioned.

For many years after the creation of the Nature Conservancy in 1949, Britain led the world in its nature conservation policy. Our 334 reserves were a model for other countries and our experts were held in high esteem.

That influence is declining rapidly. Starved of management funding over the past 10 years, many reserves are now losing the wildlife species for which they were originally designated. Staff morale in all the government agencies that run reserves is at rock bottom and years of experience and knowledge are being lost as conservationists leave under successive redundancy schemes to make savings.

Jean Tither

Harrogate, North Yorkshire

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