How to restore the British countryside

Our countryside is one of the wonders of the world – a great patchwork quilt of green fields, hedgerows, and rolling hills. But our sad little secret is that England ranks among the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Countless species have vanished altogether, and others cling on in isolated patches of remnant nature.

While most of us are dimly aware of nature’s decline – car windscreens no longer splattered with insects after a summer car journey; a countryside strangely silent in springtime – few realise the full extent of the catastrophe that is unfolding around us. Accounts from earlier centuries describe meadows riotous with colour, hedgerows thronged with songbirds.

Recently however, something has begun to shift in our relationship with the natural world. Amid the loneliness of the lockdowns, people experienced an upwelling of love for [their own] local nature and there is much public support for efforts to restore the natural fabric of our country to its former vibrancy.