Farmers have helped threatened nature recover across the country while producing food in a profitable way, conservationists have said.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said that with 70% of the UK farmed, reversing nature’s decline would not be possible without the agricultural sector.
Katie-jo Luxton, director of conservation at the RSPB, said the nation cannot save nature without the help of farmers.
She added: “Despite the pressures that a changing climate and biodiversity loss can bring, many brilliant farmers and land managers are already rising to the challenge of restoring nature while still producing food in a profitable way.”
Earlier this year, conservationists and farmers alike celebrated a 25% rise in the number of Turtle Doves within the western European population, following a hunting moratorium in Portugal, Spain and France.
Following the news, a record number of farmers, land managers and volunteers have been helping this threatened species in its eastern England strongholds, using nature-friendly farming practices to help create more Turtle Dove friendly habitats.
Meanwhile farmers, and Cornish locals were overjoyed when the highest number of Chough pairs were recorded making breeding attempts along Cornwall’s coastline this summer, fledging 108 Choughlets around the Kernow coastline alone.
Choughs were extinct from their traditional Cornish coastline habitat just 50 years ago because of changes in agricultural practices.
Curlew Life, a dedicated four-year project, has sparked hope as an upward trend in the number of Curlew chicks fledging across five sites in the UK was celebrated this autumn.
Working with farmers and land managers across thousands of hectares, the project
has deployed a mix of conservation solutions to improve the fortunes of Curlew including nest protection and habitat restoration.
This work can also benefit a host of other threatened species such as Snipe, Redshank and Lapwing.
Ms Luxton said: “We know what it will take to secure the future of our wildlife and our food security; nature-friendly farming must be implemented at a far larger scale, and with adequate financial and technical support for farmers to deliver it.
“All eyes are on the governments of the UK to ensure the transition to sustainable and nature-rich farmland is delivered with the ambition our nature urgently needs.”