David Cameron opened up a second front in his green crusade yesterday by demanding more action to protect endangered plants and animals, as well as tackling climate change.

The day after the Conservatives announced their controversial proposals to raise taxes on flying, the party leader insisted: “My vision of a greener future may start with the vital need to tackle climate change but it certainly doesn’t end there. We need to open up a second front in the green revolution . . . we need a greener Earth as well as greener skies.”

He told business leaders in the City of London that as well as curbing greenhouse gas emissions, more should be done to protect endangered species.

He said that 15,590 species were threatened with extinction because of man’s activities, and that the extinction rate had doubled since the Industrial Revolution. “One quarter of all mammals as well as one in eight of every bird species is judged to be at high risk of dying out for ever over the next few years because of mankind’s relentless grab for finite resources of our shared home,” he said. “This unconsidered cull of our natural inheritance has implications which reach well beyond our generation.”

According to scientists, these species face extention because of a range of human activities. These include tropical deforest-ation, coral loss, other habitat destruction, overexploitation of species, introduction of alien species into ecosystems, pollution, soil contamination and greenhouse gases.

Mr Cameron highlighted the work of Peter Ainsworth, the Shadow Environment Secretary, who has set up a working group to examine biodiversity around the world as well as in Britain. It is expected to report within months. The party is consulting charities, businesses, farmers and rural communities to protect and invest in a “bio-diverse” countryside.

He insisted that a Tory government would give top priority to better protection for the natural environment. He made no detailed proposals, but said that the Conservatives would look at ways of reforming the planning system to make it greener, to change farming practices, reduce pollution of land and rivers, and recycle building materials.

He said: “We have obligations to hand on to our children and grandchildren the natural beauty and diversity of the world that we inherited from previous generations. These are obligations which cannot always be met by the market and they are obligations which the next Conservative government will be determined to meet.”

He also made a fierce attack on Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, for using green taxes to raise money for the Government rather than to tackle pollution. The Tories would use all the money from green taxes to cut taxes in other areas.

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