Nurturing nature

Much needs to change if England's wildlife losses are to be reversed and if nature is to be protected from the threat of climate change, although it is hard to see how the cost, put at 1bn-a-year by the authors of a new report, will be met.

The study, led by Professor Sir John Lawton, contains a lot of sense. The innovative measures it proposes, such as creating salt marshes and wetlands to prevent flooding, can play a significant part in preserving the natural habitat in Yorkshire and beyond.

The lesson of Labour's tenure, however, is that such change need not – and today cannot – be delivered by the State alone. The model

of "ecological restoration zones", delivered by the councils, landowners, communities and businesses, reflects not just the idea of engaging more people, but the necessity of finding a way to pay for it. Such schemes, backed by rural business, could turn out to be a realistic embodiment of David Cameron's Big Society.

There is much about the towns of 2010 that Blake would find strange and familiar but, were he here, he would strain every sinew to protect his Jerusalem. Today's Englismen and women must be inspired to do just that.