Mr Lymbery, head of charity Compassion in World Farming (CiWF), said changes in farming in the past half-century to drastically and artificially push up quantities of food produced were destroying species from nightingales to butterflies and peregrines.
In a book setting out the effects of agriculture on wildlife worldwide, he said practices introduced after the Second World War have proved a perfect storm for wiping out birds and bees, as well as the plants and insects they feed on. Such practices include sowing large swathes of identical crops and the end of crop rotation, both of which reduce the natural variety of habitats. The devastating effects have been accelerated since by chemical fertilisers and insecticides, according to the book, Dead Zone.
“I think there are undoubtedly vested interests at play here,” Lymbery said.“The agricultural feed companies, the chemical companies, the pharmaceutical companies that provide the antibiotics fed en masse to factory-farmed animals, the equipment manufacturers that sell cages and tractors – they all benefit. It’s not the average farmer who benefits from industrial agriculture. And it needs to change.”
Birdlife International has also blamed population declines on the intensification of agriculture and the resulting loss of habitats. Birdlife International says: “It is widely accepted that these declines have been driven by agricultural intensification and the resulting deterioration of farmland habitats, and it is likely that the trends observed are mirrored by other farmland taxa [species].” David Ramsden, head of conservation at the Barn Owl Trust, said the industrialisation of farming had been a “disaster” for British wildlife, and also called for urgent action to tackle the causes of the devastation.
“There’s absolutely no doubt intensive farming is causing huge declines in farmland species,” he said. “The impact is huge, and most species are affected. Things that live in lowlands have been affected the worst – lapwings and curlews, for instance, have gone from ordinary farmland.” Scottish Natural Heritage revealed that 10 of the 17 upland species fell in numbers between 1994 and 2016. Curlew numbers were down 62 per cent and lapwing down 63 per cent. Nightingale numbers are also shrinking, the bird confined to south-east England, again blamed on loss of habitat.
The rise of mega-farms has radically changed the countryside since 2010. Last year it was estimated there were at least 1,675 factory farms in Britain, – an increases of more than 25 per cent in just six years – and the number has risen since then. At least 789 of the factory farms were “mega-farms” as big as those in North America. They each house more than a million chickens, 20,000 pigs or 2,000 dairy cows – which are housed indoors all year round, with no access to green fields.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wildlife-extinct-revolutionise-food-farming-species-declines-wiped-out-a8233511.html
In a book setting out the effects of agriculture on wildlife worldwide, he said practices introduced after the Second World War have proved a perfect storm for wiping out birds and bees, as well as the plants and insects they feed on. Such practices include sowing large swathes of identical crops and the end of crop rotation, both of which reduce the natural variety of habitats. The devastating effects have been accelerated since by chemical fertilisers and insecticides, according to the book, Dead Zone.
“I think there are undoubtedly vested interests at play here,” Lymbery said.“The agricultural feed companies, the chemical companies, the pharmaceutical companies that provide the antibiotics fed en masse to factory-farmed animals, the equipment manufacturers that sell cages and tractors – they all benefit. It’s not the average farmer who benefits from industrial agriculture. And it needs to change.”
Birdlife International has also blamed population declines on the intensification of agriculture and the resulting loss of habitats. Birdlife International says: “It is widely accepted that these declines have been driven by agricultural intensification and the resulting deterioration of farmland habitats, and it is likely that the trends observed are mirrored by other farmland taxa [species].” David Ramsden, head of conservation at the Barn Owl Trust, said the industrialisation of farming had been a “disaster” for British wildlife, and also called for urgent action to tackle the causes of the devastation.
“There’s absolutely no doubt intensive farming is causing huge declines in farmland species,” he said. “The impact is huge, and most species are affected. Things that live in lowlands have been affected the worst – lapwings and curlews, for instance, have gone from ordinary farmland.” Scottish Natural Heritage revealed that 10 of the 17 upland species fell in numbers between 1994 and 2016. Curlew numbers were down 62 per cent and lapwing down 63 per cent. Nightingale numbers are also shrinking, the bird confined to south-east England, again blamed on loss of habitat.
The rise of mega-farms has radically changed the countryside since 2010. Last year it was estimated there were at least 1,675 factory farms in Britain, – an increases of more than 25 per cent in just six years – and the number has risen since then. At least 789 of the factory farms were “mega-farms” as big as those in North America. They each house more than a million chickens, 20,000 pigs or 2,000 dairy cows – which are housed indoors all year round, with no access to green fields.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wildlife-extinct-revolutionise-food-farming-species-declines-wiped-out-a8233511.html
No comments:
Post a Comment