Climate change will increase pressures on our natural environment and the hurdles wildlife face as they migrate through increasingly damaged and fragmented landscapes.  Spring is coming earlier which means robins and chaffinches are laying their eggs earlier.  Warmer habitats mean flowers such as bluebells and animals like the hazel dormouse will need linked woodland to survive.  Climate change will affect the optimal use of the land and the distribution of biodiversity, and increasingly extreme weather patterns will stress our landscape ecology which has benefited until now from climatic predictability and generally benign conditions.  How do we ensure our land remains productive?  Are the protected areas enough, or do we need an approach which embraces our whole landscape?  How do we adapt to climate change and rising sea levels without sacrificing precious coastal habitats?  What other changes arise from a warmer climate and how can farmers diversify to take advantage of new opportunities?

Nature Matters Even More in a Changing Climate

When landscape designation was originally planned over sixty years ago climate change seemed an unlikely idea. Now, Stephanie Hilborne from the Wildlife Trusts argues that a network of designated sites to protect our biodiversity is more important than ever.

Stephanie Hilborne, Wildlife Trusts - 01/08/2009 Have your say

Let's Talk about the Cuckoo

Many of our most loved species and habitats are under serious threat with even more challenges coming in the future. David Nussbaum, CEO of WWF, argues that it's time to make national and global changes to protect nature.

David Nussbaum, WWF - 24/07/2009 Have your say

Beautiful, Inspiring - and Threatened

With half of England's land area now intruded on by urban and industrial development and climate change, and our response to it, likely to add further pressures, Shaun Spiers of the CPRE poses a number of challenging questions that a future government will have to address.

Shaun Spiers, CPRE - 23/07/2009 Have your say