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Charities, businesses, landowners and communities may be invited to propose ideas for ‘ecological restoration zones’ The government should hold a competition to create 12 wilderness areas to enhance ecological protection in England, the first white paper on the natural environment in 20 years will propose on Tuesday. Stung by accusations that it has failed to live up to its promise to be the “greenest-ever” government , the coalition will try to redress the continuing loss of biodiversity and wildlife habitat in England by encouraging planners and organisations to put an economic value on all nature. The white paper is also expected to announce the phase-out of the extraction of peat for horticulture and to enhance the role of volunteers in conservation. The idea of a competition to develop “ecological restoration zones” was recommended last year by Prof John Lawton , then chair of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, which was abolished by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as part of spending cuts . The commission’s review of England’s network of nature reserves, national parks and other protected areas found that they were failing in four out of five key areas, and that up to £1.1bn was needed to help rebuild nature in England. Many of the new zones are expected to be modelled on the idea used in Africa of wildlife corridors linking areas. Restored industrial areas such as old quarries could be linked to forests, moors and marshlands, or heathland areas put together to recreate stretches of protected land. Charities, businesses, landowners and communities will all be invited to propose and develop ideas. The first white paper on the natural environment in a generation attracted more than 15,000 comments from the public and interest groups – the most for any Defra policy document – suggesting public concern over loss of habitat and biodiversity is high, despite a Defra survey published in April showing nearly a third of Britons had never heard of biodiversity . People responding to the consultation said they wanted England’s woodland to be doubled in size by 2050, a halt to the loss of biodiversity and more access for horseriding and other country pursuits. It is understood that some money will be made available to establish the first new wild zones, but with public conservation already cut to the bone in a series of measures in the past three years, charities and communities are likely to be given an enhanced voluntary role. Environment groups called for a new vision of nature protection over the next 20 years and warned that a few eye-catching initiatives would not be enough. “Simply selecting a limited number of natural habitats for protection won’t be enough to safeguard the £30bn in health and welfare benefits that Britain’s natural environment contributes to the economy each year “, said Paul de Zylva, a Friends of the Earth campaigner. “Putting a price on nature is no substitute for political change that helps the natural world we all depend on to thrive – such as protecting forests from development and supporting planet-friendly farming,” he said. Martin Harper, RSPB’s conservation director, said: “The most important thing for us is that there are measurable targets, so we know where we are going and we know when we are not on the right track. Without some kind of indicators of progress the government’s rhetoric is just that, and we will not have confidence that the promises in the paper will make a practical difference for our environment.” Biodiversity Wildlife Conservation Green politics John Vidal guardian.co.uk