Improvements needed in wildlife conservation

A new government-sponsored survey has found that the way the UK manages its wildlife conservation needs to change in order to stop more species from disappearing.

The measures put in place to protect native English wildlife are simply not strong enough, the Space for Nature study found.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the survey concluded that the areas set up to safeguard vulnerable species are both too small and too isolated.

The ecologists behind the study called for changes to be made to how the country manages its conservation, with the current system of national parks and small wildlife reserves deemed insufficient to guarantee a future for at-risk animals.

A series of "ecological restoration zones" should be set up to create a network of protected sites, while work needs to be done to maintain and expand the current "wildlife corridors" made up of hedgerows, rivers and ponds.

A large part of the plan going forward should be to manage green urban spaces with a view to attracting wildlife, the authors added.

Meanwhile, the RHS recently revealed that six UK parks are to share a £10 million grant for restoration work.