For generations Welsh farmers have managed their land in ways that can provide a home for wildlife. However increasingly intensive land management and a move away from traditional mixed farming practices in recent years means that nature no longer thrives in much of our countryside. Once familiar species such as corn bunting and turtle dove have been lost as breeding birds in Wales - and unless we take action now to improve the quality of our farmed environment for wildlife - lapwing, curlew and many others will almost certainly follow.
80% of the Welsh countryside is farmed land, no other form of land use is more important for wildlife. The Welsh Government has a golden opportunity to change the fate of nature in the Welsh countryside. In the new year it intends to review Glastir, the main scheme through which farmers are paid to deliver a healthy and thriving natural environment (using public funds) . However, due to poor design and delivery, in its current form Glastir fails to guarantee that nature is provided with everything that it needs to thrive.
Glastir has the potential to do more than anything else to help restore our beleaguered wildlife, but if poorly-designed it could condemn species to nothing but further declines.
RSPB Cymru are calling on the Welsh Government to ensure that:
The money used to fund Glastir comes from the Rural Development Plan it is up to the Minister for Natural Resources and Food to decide how much money is spent on Glastir within rules set by the European Union.
There is little conservation benefit in a scheme that provides species with only some of the things a species need to survive. For example there is no benefit in providing a species with somewhere to breed if there is no food for it to eat. Glastir should guarantee that wildlife friendly farmers provide species with somewhere to live, breed and feed, we call this species basic needs.
80% of the Welsh countryside is farmed land, no other form of land use is more important for wildlife. If we are to prevent the loss of some of our most vulnerable species it is vital that Glastir becomes an effective means of supporting and encouraging wildlife friendly farming.
Please urge the Minister to ensure Glastir delivers a countryside where wildlife can thrive. Take action now, click here to email the Minister for Natural Resources and Food.
For more information on the State of Nature read the report or watch Iolo Williams’ moving speech on the State of Nature in Wales