I ddarllen y blog yma yng Nghymraeg, cliciwch yma os gwelwch yn dda.
Wales is blessed with a myriad of wildlife and breath-taking landscapes. From Snowdonia to the Brecon Beacons, Anglesey to the Pembrokeshire Coast, we’re privileged to be living in a country that holds so much beautiful scenery. But we don’t often stop to ask who looks after it – who looks after that backdrop of dramatic valleys, sweeping beaches and buzzing hedgerows that characterise so many of our favourite memories? Environmental charities like the RSPB and public bodies such as Natural Resources Wales (NRW) play a big part, but with over 80% of Wales’ land being farmed; we must remember the people who have the most impact and do the most leg-work are actually our farmers.
Eleanor Bentall, rspb-images.com
The recent State of Nature 2016 report highlighted that, along with climate change, unsustainable agriculture is one of the major factors that affect wildlife loss. Sadly, over half of our UK species have declined since 1970, with one in 14 species in Wales threatened with extinction - while 12% of all UK farmland species are also under threat. But how did agriculture end up contributing to these declines? Until now, the way we farm and manage our land has been governed by the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Unfortunately, it has failed to protect nature, the environment or build resilient agriculture. Instead, it has encouraged unsustainable, largely uneconomic farming practices that have led to so much of our wildlife being lost and countryside being damaged.
And now that we’re leaving the European Union, we have the opportunity to create a new policy that is good for nature, people and farmers alike. It’s clear that farming has enormous potential to protect the environment, save nature and produce our food, but this potential can only be fulfilled if the right type of policy and support is put in place for farmers and other land managers to achieve this goal.
In the dawn of Brexit and in the wake of a great deal of uncertainty for our rural upland communities, achieving a policy that’s good for people, nature and farmers is only possible if we find new ways of working. If we don’t work together, the scenic Welsh countryside, the delightful wildlife that inhabits it and the farmers who work it, are all at risk.
So with The Hay Festival celebrating its 30th birthday this year, RSPB Cymru will be hosting a special event on 31 May to explore what the next 30 years could look like if the natural environment were placed at the heart of farming policies post-Brexit. Special guests include RSPB Cymru Director Katie-jo Luxton; journalist and author of Ethical Carnivore, Louise Gray; spoken word poet Martin Daws; Welsh sheep farmer and Fairness for The Uplands representative, Tony Davies; Chair of Amaeth Cymru, Kevin Roberts and RSPB Chairman, Prof. Steve Ormerod. We’ll also have a hive of activity on our stand as well as some family friendly events in our wild garden. So if you want a fun day out with the family and a chance to have your say on the future of our Welsh uplands post-Brexit, you can book your tickets here.
We believe that we now have a once in a generation opportunity to move towards a sustainable land management policy that will help Welsh farmers restore and protect nature and the wider environment alongside producing high quality food and other commodities.
As part of the process in March, RSPB Cymru, Bangor University and Cynidr Consulting, with support from Welsh Government, hosted a groundbreaking event on ‘the future of upland farming in Wales’ at the Glasdir Business and Conference Centre in Llanrwst in March. The event was the first of its kind in Wales and drew over 150 delegates; including farmers, their representatives, policy experts, academics and Government officials. All of these parties came together to consider a new way of working that will shape the future of land management policy in Wales.
We’ve already started putting our practices into work on our reserves. Last year RSPB Ramsey Island struck a farm to fork deal with a local restaurant, St Davids Kitchen, to highlight the positives of environmentally friendly farming. RSPB Ramsey Island sold all 66 of their ‘ram lambs’ along with eight red deer to St Davids Kitchen. More recently, RSPB Lake Vyrnwy has been holding live-lambing events offering a unique day out for families. When we see where our food comes from, we also realise what a big impact it has on nature. Therefore, RSPB Lake Vyrnwy’s events are not only a unique family experience, but also the perfect way to discover the connections between food, farming and nature at first hand.
The future of upland farming in Wales may be challenging, but ample opportunities are available. The uplands are a valuable resource, providing social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits. If we work together to strengthen the resilience of the places we hold dear, the possibilities for nature and the possibilities for us are endless.
If you’d like to find out more about our event at the Hay Festival, please visit https://www.hayfestival.com/p-12336-louise-gray-steve-ormerod-and-tony-davies-talk-with-katie-jo-luxton. Or to learn more about RSPB Cymru’s work with farmers across Wales, please visit https://www.rspb.org.uk/farming