Problems for ecosystems Richard Negus reports: Wildlife could suffer under a proposed new countryside access act, leading conservationists warn. News that a future Labour government would legislate for a “default of access” to the British countryside, has troubled leading practical conservationists. Jim McMahon MP, shadow environment secretary, vowed his party would “open more of the countryside for people to explore”. While the pressure group Right To Roam was effusive about the announcement, Dr Roger Draycott, head of advisory and education at the GWCT, countered by saying: “Disturbance, particularly by dogs off leads, is a real problem for ground-nesting birds.” Dr Draycott’s informed opinion was echoed by Adam Steed, a Suffolk-based wild-bird keeper and previous winner of the GWCT East Anglian Grey Partridge Award: “I love to see people using the countryside responsibly; however, we regularly see walkers straying off paths and dogs running kilometres away from owner