Our natural world is disappearing before our eyes. We have to save it

The creatures we feared our grandchildren wouldn’t see have vanished: it’s happened faster than even pessimists predicted

It felt as disorienting as forgetting my pin number.

I stared at the caterpillar, unable to attach a name to it.

I don’t think my mental powers are fading: I still possess an eerie capacity to recall facts and figures and memorise long screeds of text.

This is a specific loss.

As a child and young adult, I delighted in being able to identify almost any wild plant or animal.

And now it has gone.

This ability has shrivelled from disuse: I can no…