The Sunday Times Magazine • 2726 • The Sunday Times Magazine

Britain is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world: verdict of the State of Nature report of 2016, which revealed that one in seven of our species of plants, animals and fungi is threatened with national extinction. And do you know what? British wildlife is

still fabulous. What we’ve got left is still almost unbearably wonderful and these images from the British Wildlife Photography Awards bring that truth home to all of us, including those who seldom escape the clutches of a town.

Yet even towns have moments of natural glory — finding them is just a matter of the right kind of looking. Once you’ve got the knack, you can pick out the wagtail in the never-dark urban glow; often it’s the most inspiring thing that will happen all day.

Then there’s the unexpected glory of a white hare: a mountain hare in its full snow-friendly colours. You too can relish the fact that such improbable creatures live among us — and share the rage at the way they are systematically persecuted.

However, we can also celebrate the osprey and share a triumph. This is a bird that went extinct as a breeding bird in this country, but now, thanks to mighty conservation efforts, it’s surviving and in some places even thriving: savour the bird, caught in a sharp gust with dinner in its talons.

The sight of all these pictures, brought to us by a combination of great eyes, great technical skills and the patience of a long litany of saints, reminds us all that the wild world moves us profoundly.

How marvellous that we’ve still got stuff like this left. We can take inspiration from these pictures and vow that it’s time to do something about that nature-depleted tag. The pictures, when seen altogether like this, add up to one single shout: we love our precious natural world and we want to keep hold of it n

The book British Wildlife Photography Awards: Collection 8, is published today (Ammonite £25). The exhibition of winning entries is at the Mall Galleries, London SW1, from Tuesday until Saturday, before departing on a nationwide tour; bwpawards.org

DINNER IS SERVED, abovePeter Cairns: highly commended

A male osprey maintains a tight grip on the main course in the Cairngorms National Park

A BUG’S LIFE, previous pagesKeith Trueman: highly commended

The beady eyes and whiskery charm of a roosting damselfly, on a brisk morning

in Braunton Burrows, north Devon

IN THE CLEARING, belowAndrew Parkinson: category winner

A badger enjoys a vigorous scratch in a Derbyshire woodland

I SPy, above Daniel Trim: overall winner

A pied wagtail silhouetted against a bright light at Terminal 5, Heathrow airport

SPIN CyCLE, left Robin Goodlad: highly commended

An otter in a washing machine? No, an otter seen through a viewing window at Buckfast Otter Sanctuary, Devon

GOOD HARE DAy, below left Tesni Ward

A mountain hare in the Peak District, Derbyshire

SAy “AH”, below Mark Thomas: highly commended

A grey seal pup bares its teeth off the Farne Islands, Northumberland

PEEk-A-BOO, bottom Oliver Teasdale, aged 10: category winner under 12

A puffin looks out of its burrow on Skokholm Island, Pembrokeshire