Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma
SPOILER ALERT! Do not read if you haven't watched BBC's Wild Isles - Grasslands - yet
Green, green grasses of home.
Sunday night’s episode saw us going on a journey through the rich and diverse grasslands of the UK and Ireland, where we were given a snapshot of the trials and tribulations of finding a mate in the wild – a different take on your usual dating reality show!
In a wildlife version of speed-dating, we saw a female Brown Hare putting a male through his paces, in what I can only describe as an uncompromising selection process. First came a battle of will as they engaged in a frantic boxing session, with the male doing all he could do captivate the female with his grit and determination. Next, his stamina was put to the ultimate test with a high-chase pursuit through the flat expanse of grassland they found themselves in. And if that wasn’t enough, he finally had to show his steely persistence and commitment to her by fending off other rival males before he could prove himself as a worthy mate, with no time for first date nerves! Brown Hares are very distinct with their golden-brown fur, white belly, white tail, and long ears with black tips. They can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour, making them Britain’s fastest land mammal. You can see them all year around, but this unique boxing behaviour is most visible in early spring as the breeding season gets underway. Look out for these formidable animals at our RSPB Ynys Hir reserve.
If boxing hares wasn’t your thing, there was plenty else to whet your appetite. From lekking male Black Grouse with their bubbling song to amorous adders and rutting stags. But my personal favourite had to be watching the perilous journey of the day-old Lapwing chick as it navigated its first time to find some food! The drama! Mum’s attempt to fend off the crafty gull saw other mums join in on the battle – safety in numbers and giving a whole new meaning to the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. Yet, despite their collective effort, although the little Lapwing chick survived to fight another day, the Oystercatcher chick wasn’t so lucky. Lapwings, also known as Peewits because of their display call, can often be found on grassland with short vegetation and the grasslands of RSPB Cors Ddyga supports one of the largest colonies of Lapwing in Wales. Oystercatchers are more prevalent in and around coastal areas such as our RSPB Conwy reserve.
A fight for survival
But the picture isn’t as rosy as it seems. Around 90% of Welsh land is managed for farming in some way and for too long now, Welsh farmers have been under immense pressure to intensify. They’ve had very little choice but to farm intensively in order to survive within the industry. Unfit policies and inadequate environmental schemes have led farmers away from traditional farming techniques, reducing the quality of agricultural land and resilience - resulting in huge species decline for those relying on well-managed farmland for survival, like Lapwing, Curlew and Golden Plover.
But there is hope
We are delighted to be leading the way with our Fair to Nature UK farm scheme – the only UK farm scheme that delivers land management on the scale needed for wildlife to thrive once again. Our work shows that what’s needed to restore much of our farmland nature is for 10% of all farmlands to be well-managed with nature in mind. Not only does the scheme help farmers create diverse well-managed habitats on their land - from flower rich and wood pastures to thriving riparian buffers - Fair to Nature advisors also help ensure that the management is tailored to species that are in the most need on and around the farm. The aim is to improve the farmer’s ability to work with nature and help them develop a sustainable environment in which to produce food and other products so that they can survive and thrive within an ever-challenging industry.
More than just all talk
We decided to take up the challenge of farming too, so that we could demonstrate how farming can benefit birds and other wildlife without farmers losing income, with Hope Farm being a great example of just that.
Farmers are the solution, not the problem but they need our help
Farmers have a strong connection to the land in Wales, taking great pleasure and pride from the nature that calls it their home. They want to see and play their part in its restoration, but for that to happen, policies and environmental schemes must be fit for purpose and enable Welsh farmers to move away from intensive agriculture. 2022 saw the beginning of a potential new era to the farming system in Wales through the development of the Sustainable Farming Scheme. The new scheme is based around producing food, adapting and mitigating against climate change, improving the resilience of ecosystems and enhancing the countryside and people’s engagement to it. The finer details are still being worked through, but this is a critical opportunity to ensure farmers are paid to look after the very building blocks they need to survive while producing food sustainably for future generations and providing wider environmental benefits to society, something we are striving to achieve at our upland farm on Lake Vyrnwy.
We already have great examples of farmers doing just this in Wales and they have seen the benefits it can bring to their business, but we need to enable more to do the same. If you’re a farmer and interested in the things you can do to help, take a look at our partner organisation Farm Wildlife.