An ecological network is a network of high quality sites, protected by buffer zones, and connected by wildlife corridors and smaller, but still wildlife rich, 'stepping stone' sites.
The essence of what needs to be done to establish a more coherent and resilent network can be summarised in four words:
Better - improve the quality of priority habitat (both within and outside protected sites), through appropriate habitat management.
Bigger - increase the size of existing priority habitat.
More - create new areas of priority habitat.
Joined - enhance ecological connections between, or join up, existing areas of priority habitat to enable wildlife to move around the landscape.