The Wild Flower Half Hour podcast recently highlighted a planning application for a housing development that threatens the loss of the Greater Tongue Orchid in the UK. If approved, the plan will result in the large-scale damage of a rough grassland site in Essex, the only known location of this species within the country.
The Greater Tongue Orchid (Serapius lingua).
Source: Chris Lansdell
There are plans to translocate the orchids to a nearby meadow but due to the complex fungal relationships required for their survival, the success rate is thought to be low.
Hear more on the issue here.