A written parliamentary question tabled by Bob Russell MP to DCLG today received an answer from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Natural Environment and Fisheries in DEFRA, Richard Benyon MP.

Question: “To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to page 17 of The Coalition: Our Programme for Government, what plans he has to promote green spaces and wildlife corridors in order to halt the loss of habitat and restore biodiversity.” [348]

Answer: (Richard Benyon) “I have been asked to reply. We look forward to receiving Sir John Lawton’s report, “Making Space for Nature”, later in the summer. Sir John’s update in March reported that to achieve a coherent and resilient ecological network we will need to look beyond existing designated sites and take account of landscape designations, local wildlife sites and green spaces.

The Government are also looking forward to the completion of work currently being carried out by Natural England on the implementation of landscape-scale enhancements to benefit wildlife. This will build on and use the lessons learned from existing work such as the Great Fen, a collaboration between Natural England, Environment Agency, the local Wildlife Trust and district council, which is joining up two national nature reserves through creating 3,700 ha of wetland habitat in Cambridgeshire, which will deliver benefits not only for biodiversity but also for water quality, recreation and local communities.

In addition, this Government will deliver a White Paper, the first since 1990, that will, finally, take an integrated approach to the natural environment in all its aspects. By reflecting nature’s real value in our social and economic decisions we will be able to review and improve the ways in which we both harness and protect it. We are currently considering options and time scales for taking this commitment forward.”

This reaffirms DEFRA’s commitment to publishing a White Paper on the natural environment, as suggested by the Prime Minister before reaching government.

Speaking at the tenth annual Darwin Initiative lecture last night (see post below for further details), Hilary Benn announced that Professor Sir John Lawton, ex-President of the BES, has been appointed to chair the review of England’s wildlife network.

The review will explore if England’s collection of wildlife areas represents a coherent and robust ecological network that will be capable of responding to future pressures such as climate change. Commenting on his appointment, Professor Lawton said that “Climate change poses a major challenge for England’s wildlife, but it is by no means the only threat. We need to ensure that the existing protected-area network is fit for purpose, and if it isn’t, what we do about it.” The review will publish its findings in June 2010.

New research published in Biological Conservation suggests that strips of land alongside motorways play an important role in maintaining plant and spider diversity within intensive agricultural landscapes.

The research was conducted along one 50km stretch of Motorway near Paris, collecting data from 25 individual sites. Where possible, sites with hedgerows were selected within 1.5km from sites without hedgerows.

The researchers found that hedgerows were positively associated with plant diversity – being twice as rich as the grass verges (without hedgerows). Spider diversity was closely associated with proximity to natural woodland, with little significant difference in diversity between hedgerows and grassland. Spider community structure differed between habitat types; hunting and ballooning spiders were found more often in open grassland, whereas web-building and ‘non-ballooning’ spiders were most common in hedges.

Future research may benefit from looking at strips on different motorways in comparable landscapes rather than replicating along the same stretch of motorway. However, this preliminary research is important in that it has shown that the means in which motorway verges are planted and managed can increase plant and insect diversity in different ways.

After construction of future motorways, some restoration can be achieved by creating a mosaic of hedges and grassland, providing spatial and temporal refugia for biodiversity as well as increased ecological connectivity.

Full reference: Le Viol, I., Julliard, R., Kerbiriou, C., et al. (2008). Plant and spider communities benefit differently from the presence of planted hedgerows in highway verges. Biological Conservation. 141(6): 1581-1590.