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The British countryside is increasingly under threat. New roads, housing and airports are eroding our open spaces, blurring the line between where suburbia ends and countryside begins. Although no-one has ever sat down and signed off the wholesale destruction of the countryside, the insidious creep of concrete and bricks – an out-of-town retail park here, another ring road there – is adding up to the same effect.
Half of our ancient woodlands, half our coastal marshes and 95 percent of our flower-rich meadows and lowland peat bogs have been lost in the last 50 years. An area of countryside the size of Southampton is lost to development each year, and iconic landscapes such as the Norfolk Broads, the South Downs and the Peak District are at risk. Once common animals and plants such as the sparrow and water vole have joined endangered species lists.
Climate change moved rapidly up the political agenda in 2006, thanks in part to a string of high-level reports including the Stern and Eddington reviews. With the Government’s warm rhetoric on sustainable development undermined by a parade of depressing statistics on everything from recycling rates to transport policy, momentum is building for change. Politicians are finally beginning to compete for the green vote, and new doors are opening for community campaigners, particularly those that are part of strong networks which can share resources and speak with one voice.
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Disappearing woods and fields take with them values that people of all generations hold dear – a sense of tranquillity, of escape, and of closeness to nature. Some of these same people have taken it upon themselves to fight the advancing concrete. All over Britain, local groups of concerned citizens are challenging plans for irresponsible development, stimulating public debate over the type of countryside we want to leave to our children and grandchildren, and the quality of life we want for ourselves today.
The work of these local heroes goes unsung, and is often under-funded. The Manuka Club was set up to support them and to secure a living and healthy countryside for the enjoyment of everyone
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