The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is calling for changes to the current hedgerow regulations.
The CPRE would like local authorities to be given more power to protect hedgerows by a broadening of the categories and a simplification of process.
This follows survey results that reveal a six per cent fall in the length of England's managed hedgerows, a drop of 26,000 km or 16,150 miles between 1998 and 2007.
The Hedgerow Regulations have been in place for over ten years the CPRE said, allowing a body of evidence on which to base developments. They blame a lack of hedgerow management and hedge removal for the loss although more hedgerows are being classified as protected.
Any reduction in British hedgerows affects a wide range of wildlife, whether invertebrates, animals, birds or bats which live or are dependent upon them.
In particular, in intensively farmed areas, hedgerows provide safe passages for animals to move between areas.
The CPRE also ask for the Environmental Stewardship scheme and other incentives that fund landowners, to continue or be extended.
The majority of Britain is believed to have had hedges since the Anglo-Saxon period more than one thousand years ago. The oldest living hedgerow in England is Judith's Hedge in Cambridgeshire, being over 900 years old.
The difficulties in interpreting the current hedgerow regulations were highlighted this July, when a case involving a landowner clearing a strip was under dispute. The council landscape officer for North Norfolk district council was defending an order to replant the 'removed hedge'.
In this instance the Planning Inspector found in favour of Mr Thomas Cook who claimed it was scrub that he had cleared.
With the closure of the Commission for Rural Communities, the role of the charity CPRE becomes more significant.
Related article: Daily Mail - When is a hedge not a hedge?
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