The title of this book How to Value a Skylark: The Countryside in a Time of Change sets out two themes which run throughout the text. There is firstly an increasing understanding that all is not well with the countryside and nature in Britain; and secondly that we urgently need to think carefully about how we value green space landscape and nature. The central questions in the book therefore are: What do we expect from the countryside? and How do we find a balance which will have public support?