RSPB report on farming

The RSPB sets out vision for how farming can help save nature

• In a brand-new report, published at this week’s Oxford Farming Conference, the RSPB sets out how farming can help reverse wildlife declines.
• The RSPB calls on governments to make three key steps to support farmers in making this transition, as well as detailing how banks and retailers can play a key part.
• The report also profiles farmers who are already investing in nature all over the UK

In a brand-new report, the RSPB reveals how farmers can be critical allies against wildlife decline while also storing carbon, helping prevent floods, and creating more reliable and healthy food sources. Critically, however, the report emphasises that farmers cannot do it alone, and need support from governments, retailers, and financial institutions.

Farming covers 70% of UK land, and so farmers play a key role in reversing wildlife declines across what is one of the most nature-depleted countries on earth. The RSPB’s report, published this week at the Oxford Farming Conference, draws on examples from around the UK where farmers are already creating vital wildlife habitats whilst investing in soil, pollinators, and water, protecting their land as well as helping threatened species such as Turtle Dove and Lapwing.

Through steps such as creating and maintaining habitats across at least 10% of the farm, cutting hedgerows every two-three years rather than every year, and creating or maintaining sources of water such as ponds or scrapes, farmers can see huge benefits for their crops and livestock as well as boosting local wildlife.

But without support from government, supermarkets, and banks, the report emphasises, these transitional changes will never be possible on a national scale. Governments in all four UK nations, the RSPB states, must:

• create well-funded, effective agri-environment schemes that pay farmers to provide sufficient year-round resources for nature, supported by funded advice.
• put trade policies in place that raise standards and avoid offshoring the UK’s environmental footprint.
• tackle unfair contracts and food waste, amongst other wider food system issues.

Businesses and retailers, the report says, also play a key role by being transparent about their impact on the environment and working with farmers to set clear targets, as well as putting long-term contracts in place that give farmers the time to transition to nature-friendly farming. Banks and other financial institutions, meanwhile, must support through their investments and lending models.

Through detailing examples of farmers across the UK who are already working with government and local institutions to help nature, whether it’s rewetting peatlands or phasing out insecticides, the report shows where farms are already welcoming back bird species not seen in decades, and where butterfly numbers continue to climb and climb.

Alice Groom, the RSPB’s head of sustainable land use policy, said: “Governments and businesses must play their part and give farmers long-term security, but a UK Government announcement only this week about nature-friendly farming schemes once again failed to plan any further than 2028. Farmers need security, and nature needs action now.”

The report can be found on the RSPB website: Nature friendly farming: our vision for a brighter future.

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