Evolution of rural wildlife conservation measures in UK and its implications

Wildlife is an important part of agricultural ecosystem. However, with the popularization of modern intensive agricultural technology aiming at “efficiency”, the survival of wildlife in countryside is threatened unprecedentedly. Applying the historical and literature research method, this paper analyzed the evolution history and the development law of the conservation measures for rural wildlife in UK. At the same time, this paper discussed the current situation, existing problems, and some policy suggestions for the rural wildlife conservation development in China. Results show that early stage of wildlife conservation in UK focused on the endangered, rare and seriously threatened wildlife species and their habitats. After 1960s-1970s, with the development of modern intensive agriculture, the issues of common wildlife conservation in rural areas had become a focus and the integrated landscape scale model was developed gradually on the basis of species and their habitat conservation model. With the advent of “living landscape” theory, wildlife conservation in UK began to be integrated with economic and social development in rural areas. Currently, China’s agriculture is undergoing a dramatic change of concentration, and the survival of wildlife in countryside is seriously threatened. However, there are still some deficiencies in the existing conservation measures. Therefore, China may learn from UK experiences to strengthen the scientific research of rural wildlife conservation and to improve related laws and policies.