Conservation on the Cheap?

The debate about how to halt or even reverse the decline in terrestrial UK biodiversity (especially in relation to the effects of climate change) continues apace (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/07/environment-white-paper?INTCMP=SRCH). Briefly, last year Professor John Lawton advocated the creation of 'ecological restoration zones' at a cost of £0.6-1.1 bn. These were designed to 'fill in the gaps' between the existing National Parks by controlling activities in biologically important areas without a park and by making corridors between protected areas. In a recent white paper, the government proposes generating around 12 'nature improvement areas' with 'more business and community involvement' by allocating an extra £7.5 m over 3 years (to predictable howls of protest about 'planning blight'). This doesn't sound like a necessarily ambitious programme.