Farmland wildlife is under threat as never before. Yet many scientific studies show that going organic can reverse this decline in biodiversity. The only way to rebuild a rich and abundant wildlife right across our countryside is to promote a system of farming that encourages wildlife instead of one that squeezes it out. That system is organic farming.
We believe that industrial farming practices have contributed to a dramatic decline in UK biodiversity. We want the UK government to take action. Find out why...
Wildlife in our countryside - what's going wrong?
The UK has suffered a phenomenal decline in wildlife over the last 50 years. Many once common species such as the skylark and the small white butterfly are now a rarity. Evidence shows that many intensive farming practices are to blame for this decline. Damaging practices include the use of pesticides and herbicides and the destruction of hedgerows which are havens for wildlife.
Why is organic farming good for wildlife?
Organic farming is the best way of reversing the decline in wildlife. Organic farming actually depends on encouraging a diverse ecosystem to maintain soil fertility and to keep pests under control naturally. Important organic farming practices include:
- Encouraging natural predators by maintaining hedgerows and creating open spaces at side of fields
- Mixed farming where different crops are planted together.
- Changing the crops planted each season, to keep soil fertile and avoid the need for chemicals.
The Soil Association knows that because so many organic farming practices are wildlife-friendly implementing organic farming on a wide scale would reverse this decline.
In fact we have the proof that this is the case in our biodiversity report. It has since been backed up by numerous other studies.
- a scientific literature review by English Nature and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds of 76 studies found that there are more birds, butterflies, beetles, bats and wild flowers on organic farms than on conventional farms. This is because the farm as a whole is subject to environmental standards, rather than just limited areas - which occurs under agri-environment schemes on non organic farms.
- a literature review of 66 published comparative studies concluded that on average wildlife is 50% more abundant on organic farms and there are 30% more species than on non-organic farms. ('The effects of organic agriculture on biodiversity and abundance: a meta-analysis', by Swedish researchers (Bengtsson, Ahnström and Weibull), published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, 2005)
- a large-scale survey by British Trust of Ornithology and others of most lowland mixed crop and livestock organic farms in England (August 2005) found that the organic farms have almost twice as many numbers and species of plants, about a third more birds and a third more bats in organic farms. The researchers believe that the potential of organic farms to support wild animals is actually far greater, and that the biodiversity benefits are held back because organic farms are currently mostly 'isolated units' in an intensively managed landscape.
The main benefits of organic farming for biodiversity are its non-use of fertilisers, herbicides and synthetic wormers; minimal use of pesticides; lower livestock stocking densities; encouragement of natural predators for controlling pests (and thus maintenance of hedges, field margins and other uncropped areas); higher soil biological activity; mixed crop and livestock systems rather than monoculture. It is the absence of these beneficial factors on most non-organic farms that has accounted for most of the decline in wildlife in Britain's farmed countryside in recent decades.
Yet, while 76% of the UK's land is used for agricultural purposes only 4% of this is farmed organically.
The Soil Association is calling for
- The government to revitalise the countryside by setting organic targets: we want to see 30% of farmland in England and Wales to be organic by 2010. This could mean:
- 10% increase in the amount of birds
- 25% increase in butterfly numbers
- 11.5 million hectares of arable land would no longer be sprayed with pesticides.
- The government to support an organic stewardship payments scheme for farmers after they convert to organic. This will reward the environmental benefits organic farming delivers.
Documents in our library about wildlife on farms:
|