Hilary Benn, Secretary of State at DEFRA, is set to announce a wide-ranging year-long review of wildlife in Britain today, as part of the Labour Party Conference in Brighton. The review is expected to focus on re-wilding – returning the environment to a previous ‘natural’ state – and on the expansion of ecological corridors.

There is currently no information available on the Defra website but the imminent announcement was widely reported over the weekend. The Independent reported that the review was being driven by “general recognition…that conservation needs to be practised over larger areas” and the need for species to be able to move in the face of threats to habitat from climate change.

See further information on this story in the Independent and Farmers Weekly.