WILDLIFE and walkers' groups in Dorset have welcomed new laws to protect the natural environment and open up the countryside.

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act, which has now been passed by parliament, has been hailed as a major breakthrough by conservationists and ramblers.

It commits the government to strengthening protection of crucial wildlife sites and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Dorset was recently voted the country's top Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in a magazine poll and more than 50 per cent of the county is designated as AONB. The vote was taken among walkers asked to name their favourite destination.

The new act will give a huge boost to ramblers with the opening up of four million acres of countryside, which is expected to be in place by 2005. Dorset County Council has already cleared hundreds of miles of footpaths to allow walkers greater access.

John Walden, regional manager for the RSPB, said: "It is a great day for wildlife. The new act will have profound implications for nature conservation across the south west. The increased protection for wildlife represents the culmination of more than a decade of campaigning.

"This act has received massive public support. Thousands of people cared enough about it to write personally to ministers or their MP."

A survey by the RSPB showed 83 per cent of those asked felt it was important for the law to be in place before the next election. It is now calling on all the political parties to make election pledges on wildlife and the countryside - including investing £500 million in green technology, such as offshore wind farms.

A spokeswoman for the Ramblers' Association in Dorset said: "This is very welcome. We have been campaigning for greater access to the countryside for more than 50 years and the act allows for a statutory 'right to roam' on mountain, moor, heath, down and common land."

The Countryside Agency, the government's countryside adviser, is now set to press ahead with mapping the land that people can access.

The government is also cracking down on wildlife crime by introducing tougher jail sentences and fines.