Natural England, the Government's statutory adviser on wildlife and landscape protection, has promised to publish a map setting out suitable locations for onshore wind developments in England.

That pledge came as the organisation warned that a new approach was needed to manage the threat posed to the natural environment by unavoidable climate change and the pressures of modern development.

Dr Helen Phillips, chief executive of Natural England, said "the natural environment is increasingly under threat, both within and especially away from protected areas".

She called for new ways to manage the landscape to help wildlife survive. Dr Phillips suggested consideration should be given to establishing a new 'national park' around the compete length of England's coastline as well as "better use of the green belt or improved public funding for farmers to deliver a better natural environment".

Dr Phillips' comments were made at the launch of Natural England's first report into the state of the natural environment and the publication of a manifesto committing the body to use its statutory position to protect the natural environment under threat from major development and transport projects.

The report highlighted that some 20 per cent of England's landscapes showed signs of neglect and that there had been a significant deterioration of some habitats: a quarter of salt marshes in South East England had been lost and only three per cent of grasslands remained rich in native plants. Lack of woodland management was blamed for a 50 per cent decline in native woodland butterflies.

In a related development it has emerged that over 5m hectares of land in England, an area roughly twice the size of Wales, are now covered by schemes designed to conserve the landscape and its wildlife.

According to a report into the Government's environmental stewardship scheme, published jointly by Natural England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the provisions of the scheme had led to the restoration of more than 17,000 kilometres of hedgerows, created over 7,000 kilometres of footpaths and cycleways and helped the recovery of endangered bird species like the stone curlew, bittern and chough.