The total value of nature conservation depends not just on designated sites but also on the areas of less intensively-used land which may protect the designated sites or have their own conservation value. Given the steady erosion in the extent and quality of designated sites, the wider countryside has become an increasingly important element within conservation policy over the last decade. Such land can form a lattice of micro-habitats linking and enhancing the value of designated sites. This paper draws on a review of the conservation resource in seven counties of eastern England and a survey of landholders in a 2000 km2 study area in Norfolk and Suffolk to examine the factors affecting the management of the conservation resource in the wider countryside. It considers, in particular, the extent and management of less-intensive arable, pasture, woodland and wetland areas, and the relationships between such management and the nature and size of farm business operations with which such areas are located. From this, the paper seeks to explore the potential for conservation policy development to promote the enhancement of nature conservation values in the countryside.
