Green lanes are secret wildlife havens

Scientists have discovered an ignored network of wildlife havens in the British countryside ­ its ancient green lanes.

New research has found that the lanes ­ grass tracks between hedges and dry-stone walls ­ are far richer for wildlife even than hedgerows, long thought to be the most important man-made feature of the British countryside. Yet virtually no studies have been carried out on them, they are not protected by law, and they are being ruined by motorcycles and off-the-road vehicles.

At least 5,000 miles of green lane ­ some more than 2,000 years old ­ snake through some of the country's loveliest landscapes. The research, led by scientists at Staffordshire University and the Official Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, has found that green lanes in Cheshire, Hampshire and the Yorkshire Dales have twice as many butterflies and 25 per cent more species of plant even than hedgerows, and the scientists believe that they are likely to prove equally rich in birds, bees, and other wildlife.

Dr John Dover, senior lecturer in applied ecology at Staffordshire University describes the grass strips ­ which are sheltered between hedges or walls and so protected from fertilisers and pesticides ­ as "islands of bio-diversity''. The scientists say: "Their importance in the landscape may be very high, especially for declining species.''

But the lanes are threatened by off-the-road motoring. Every weekend, thousands of motorcycles and four-wheel drives ­ dubbed "Chelsea tractors'' by locals ­ tear along them, especially in the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District and the Breacon Beacons. Self-styled "mudpluggers" aim to get stuck so they can dig out their vehicles with spades and winches.

The scientists say the lanes are "for all practical purposes invisible in the planning and landscape-protection arena."