A new programme from Mid-Wales conservationist Iolo Williams is set to highlight the "shocking decline" of wildlife in Wales this afternoon.

In a passionate plea to save Wales' wildlife heritage, Iolo documents the unprecedented loss of wildlife that he has seen during the past fifty years.

He says many of the wild species that he grew up with in the countryside near Lake Vyrnwy have disappeared – some species have declined by over 60% and some, like the hare, as much as 98%. Added to this is the serious decline in insects, particularly pollinators such as bees, which have declined more than 50%.

Iolo outlines worrying trends and fears the decline is escalating. Unless it is reversed, he says there’s a danger of losing much of the wildlife that makes Wales so outstanding.

He shares his concerns with Claire Pilman, chief executive of Natural Resources Wales and Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs in the Welsh Government. He talks to farmers and scientists to get an understanding of what's changed in the countryside during his lifetime. He demands answers to some crucial questions: What's being done to protect valuable wildlife? Can more be done to reverse the decline? How well has the land been managed by those who have the responsibility to do so?

Iolo says: “Do you know, the choice really is up to us. What do we want? Well I know what I want, I want a rural Wales with people, I want people working here, I want people to have a purpose to be here but I want the place full of wildlife.

"I want to see hay meadows back on virtually every farm in Wales, I want to hear grasshoppers, I want to hear bees. I want to see swallows and house martins, I want to hear cuckoos, I want to see yellowhammers. And there's no reason, no reason whatsoever as long as we, all of us, make the right choices, why we can't get all of that back in Wales.”

"Iolo: Saving the land of the wild" will be shown at 5.35pm on Sunday, April 28 on BBC One Wales.