We can make space for nature

Farmland birds like corn bunting stand to benefit from the Trust’s work with the county’s farmers.

With agricultural land covering vast tracts of Suffolk, the future of the county’s countryside and the wildlife it holds is in the hands of our farmers. But they are not alone; the Trust is supporting them every step of the way. MATT GAW We can make space for

The rain stops slowly, like a stiff tap being turned off, to leave a wet woollen sky that sags over the trees and hedgerows of this mid-Suffolk farm. The paths skirting the fields have been transformed into a gluey, puddle-potted mud, but even though the sun is still struggling to cut through the spitball-greyness of the clouds there is a lightness to the land; it comes from the mildness of the temperature, the early blooms of blackthorn and most of all, from the birds. Over clouds of linnet and the tut of a blackbird comes the song of the skylark; a thread of golden, fluted notes that seem to sew earth and sky together.

Sam Hanks, Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Farmland Wildlife Adviser, points to where a single bird is rising on fanning wings, before it parachutes down again as if winged by buckshot. All the while it sings and sings and sings. In the space of a minute, the first bird is joined by three others, silhouetted against the paleness of the sky. They are all males, giving voice to attract mates, or to warn rivals that territory has been taken. Their songs, blown through the voice box, a double-barreled syrinx no bigger than the nail on a child’s finger, wraps around the land like a cat’s cradle around fingers.

CHRISTINA BOLLEN ALAMY

The skylark is just one of the species that the Trust is using to measure the success of its habitat improvement work with Suffolk farms. Following advice and support of where farms can make changes – whether it is digging ponds, creating wildflower-rich meadows, increasing hedgerow cover or even leaving areas fallow – monitoring takes place to see how pollinating insects and farmland birds including the skylark, lapwing and yellowhammer have increased.

Although the Trust has worked with farmers and landowners for many years, in particular with clusters of farms in the Stour Valley and Bramfield, the creation of Sam’s role in September 2019, emphasises the importance of wildlife conservation on agricultural land. After

MATTHEW ROBERTS

Flocks of beautiful yellowhammer quickly return to land that is farmed with wildlife in mind.

Wildflowers and rough edges are important spaces for invertebrates and pollinators.

CIRCLE: Sam Hanks SWT

Farmland

Wildlife Adviser.

A FARMER'S VIEW

“If you took this farm 20 years ago, it is unrecognisable from what we have here. We’ve gone from no barn owls at all to 4 pairs, the butterfly list is extensive, we’ve got all kinds of damselflies and insects. But in general, the volume of wildlife we have now has changed. The farm is always alive.

“I am definitely proud of what we have done here. I’m

the custodian of this land and if I can pass it on to my kids as something that is a lot better that’s got to be a good thing. As farmers we have to care and lead the way. Looking at the percentage of land that is farmed in the UK, if the farming industry doesn’t care about wildlife and what we are doing with it, we’re going to be in a pretty poor state. It is an opportunity for farmers to show the public, to help them understand what we are doing.”

STEVE AYLWARD, SARAH GROVES

The farm we are on today is an example of what can be done by working together. Owned by Stephen Honeywood, the farm produces cereals for Jordans and a specialised horse feed. But space has been made for wildlife. The hedgerows stretch to their natural height of about 12ft and plans are underway to dig more ponds to support amphibians, insects and birds. This field, haunted by skylarks and also used by breeding lapwings, has been kept fallow. There is a feeling that the whole farm is alive. Close your eyes and you could be in the most biodiverse of nature reserves.

As we walk back to the farmhouse, Sam talks about how the land here has a “fuzziness”; a lack of hard edges, scrub and hedge blending softly with fields. It is, he says with a smile, “fuzzy farming”. But, importantly there is nothing cutesy,

all, the United Kingdom is a farmed country. Almost 75% of land is given over to agriculture, with that figure probably rising to around 80% in this county. Between 1935 and 1998, aided by chemicals, heavy machinery, crop science and subsidies from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), British farmers roughly tripled their per-acre yields of wheat, oats and barley.

At the same time, old techniques of rotation were abandoned, hedgerows were ripped out and semi-natural habitats were drained. An estimated 97% of hay meadows were lost – ‘improved’ with fertilisers, or broken by the plough. In the two decades between 1990 and 2010, the area of crops treated with pesticides in the UK increased by a half.

The environmental toll of intensive farming was laid bare by the State of Nature report. The now annual health check on the UK's wildlife, put together using figures from 50 conservation organisations, concluded in 2019 that: “Farmland birds have declined more severely than birds in any other habitat” in 50 years. Alongside the loss of quarter of our moths, 90% of turtle doves, yellowhammers have crashed by 60% and skylarks by more than 75%.

Sam describes it as “nothing short of a disaster for wildlife” but adds it is important not to point the finger at farmers. “The situation we are in is obviously not good.

But it is no use blaming farmers. They had to do what they were advised to do, both to have a livelihood and to grow food. What we have to think about now, is where we go from here.

or wishy-washy about this place. Stephen’s farm is a successful, commercial farm, it is just that the vision for its management includes making space for wildlife.

Although in the job for less than a year, Sam says he believes there is an enthusiasm for incorporating wildlife management into farming models. “The reception has been really good. I’ve already visited a lot of farms. We’ve started working with places that we haven’t been actively involved with, so it’s really positive.” Yet, Sam knows it won’t all be easy, that some landowners could be resistant to change.

“There is certainly plenty of work to be done. But in terms of the opportunity for big conservation wins, it is exciting. We just need to get as many people on board as possible.”

With the fate of so many of our familiar species hanging in the balance, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ farmland-wildlife-advice