Campaigners hope developers will be banned from using nets to stop birds nesting after a 350,000-name petition prompted MPs to debate the issue in Parliament.
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act it is currently an offence to destroy nests of wild birds while they are in use.
But the use of netting to prevent birds nesting in hedgerows and trees allows developers to get around the law to avoid delays caused by the nesting season.
Environmentalists, including naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham, have condemned the practice and say it has exploded in scale this spring.
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The rise in the use of netting this year has been partly fuelled – experts say – by a 78% increase in housebuilding over the last five years as developers respond to government pressure to build homes as quickly as possible.
But the sight of covered trees and hedges, including an incident in Quainton where HS2 contractors netted hedgerows, has sparked protests across the country, with campaigners filming birds and mammals trapped within netting and reporting offences to the police.
Following a petition signed by over 350,000 people, Labour MP for Hartlepool Mike Hill MP will now lead a Parliamentary debate on whether the practice should be made a criminal offence on Monday afternoon.
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He said: “I absolutely agree that we should not be encroaching in any shape or form on green belt land.”
Earlier this year, 11 trees were covered by Sladen Estates in Guildford, Surrey, which is aiming to build 191 homes on a derelict site.
Netting has also appeared on hedgerows in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, where Taylor Wimpey intends to build a 270-home development and this week over derelict homes in Brampton, Cumbria.
Chris Calow from the RSPB said: “There would be no need for netting at all developers ensured that all tree and hedge removal was completed outside of nesting season.
“But, this is only half the picture, we need to make sure we are replacing what is lost with new trees and hedges. We all want to live in a country where our natural world isn’t in crisis and we can just let nature sing.”
