Rural landscape by Guy Edwardes/2020VISION
Vote for wildlife-friendly farming
Fund wildlife-friendly farming
Â
To support a just transition for farmers, we’re calling on all political parties to increase the budget for wildlife-friendly farming, halve pesticide use and help farmers adapt to climate change.
Â
By supporting farmers to shift towards regenerative, nature-friendly methods, farming has huge potential to deliver a green rural renewal. Farming is too often unsustainable, but with management of over 70% of UK land, farmers should be a significant part of the solution.
The destruction of nature and the impacts of climate change are the biggest threats to food security in the UK. Food production relies on healthy soils, clean water, and resilience to climate change. But farming is one of the main causes of wildlife declines, as well as the leading cause of river pollution in England. Restoring nature on farms will bring many benefits, not just for wildlife but also for farmers. Working with nature can increase farm profits and resilience, reduce costs, and maintain or even improve yields.
Many farmers and land managers have gone to great lengths to support wildlife without being adequately rewarded. The real terms value of the budget for environmental farming has already fallen by a third since 2010. Not investing properly means everyone loses.
Vote for wildlife-friendly farming - Steve Proud, Land Management Director
What are we doing?
Â
Industrial agriculture has caused huge damage to UK wildlife by replacing mixed habitat with vast monoculture crops, killing animals with pesticides and leaking fertilisers into natural environments. BBOWT works with farmers across the three counties who prove that wildlife-friendly farming is possible and profitable.
Read about our £46,000 project to demonstrate how farming can be more wildlife-friendly.
Wild flower margin by James Adler
Land Advice Service
Our Land Advice Service supports farmers and land managers to practice sustainable and wildlife-friendly land use through evidence-based and locally-tailored advice, planning, and implementation.
What you can do
Â
Ask your candidates in local and national elections what their parties are doing to address The Wildlife Trusts' priorities and what they will do locally if elected.
If you are a candidate in local or national elections, contact us to find out how you can work with us on these five priorities.
