Discover how nature-friendly farming is making a difference from Choughs in Cornwall to Corncrakes on Orkney
Around 70% of the UK is farmed, which means that reversing nature’s decline would not be possible without the incredible work of farmers. As well as providing food for the nation, farmland can also provide vital feeding, breeding and nesting habitats for a vast array of wildlife, with features such as hedgerows, ponds and wildflower strips all providing multiple benefits.
Farming with wildlife in mind, while continuing to produce the nation’s food, benefits farm businesses’ resilience as well as biodiversity. We work with farmers across the UK to support nature-friendly farming and there are many brilliant conservation efforts underway. From the remote Scottish isles of Orkney to Land’s End in Cornwall, here are just a few of the species benefitting from nature-friendly farming.
In 2024, conservationists and farmers alike celebrated a 25% rise in the number of Turtle Doves within the western European population, following a hunting moratorium in Portugal, Spain and France. A record number of farmers, land managers and volunteers have also been helping this threatened species in its eastern England strongholds, using nature-friendly farming practices to help create more Turtle Dove friendly habitat.
With hundreds of farmers taking part in anticipation of the Turtle Dove’s arrival back to the UK in spring, it is expected that population increases elsewhere on this species’ migration route will soon see a positive impact on the number of these special birds seen on our shores.
Local communities continue to play a huge role in conservation efforts alongside farmers, and Cornish locals were ‘Chough-ed’ when the highest number of Chough pairs were recorded making breeding attempts along Cornwall’s coastline last summer, fledging 108 ‘Choughlets’ around the Kernow coastline alone. RSPB Ramsey Island and RSPB South Stack Cliffs in Wales also welcomed a successful breeding year.
Having previously declined due to changes in agricultural practices, Choughs were extinct from their traditional Cornish coastline habitat just 50 years ago. Today, the species’ success is in part thanks to nature-friendly farming efforts, including the introduction of grazing to the birds' cliff top habitats to increase insects available for the birds to feed on.
The hopeful news from the Cornish and Welsh colonies follows the reintroduction of Chough to Kent which saw the first successful breeding of the birds in the county for 200 years in summer 2024.
Meanwhile, Curlew LIFE, a dedicated four-year project, has sparked hope as an upward trend in the number of Curlew chicks fledging across five sites in the UK was celebrated last autumn.
Working with farmers and land managers across thousands of hectares, the project has deployed a mix of conservation solutions to improve the fortunes of Curlews including nest protection and habitat restoration. For example, wet habitat features such as good quality peatland have proved vital for Curlews as they favour boggy, rushy areas to breed, while vegetation management through cutting and grazing has allowed for young chicks to remain camouflaged and feed amongst the right mix of taller vegetation. These habitats can also benefit a host of other threatened species such as Snipes, Redshanks and Lapwings.
Despite being in a perilous position as a breeding bird in the UK, these figures show hope for the species’ recovery, with the learnings from the project able to be applied by farmers and conservationists across key Curlew habitats in both upland and lowland farmland areas.
Elsewhere, Corncrakes took the spotlight as The Outrun film aired in cinemas across the UK in 2024. Celebrating the unique windswept cliffs of Orkney and their remarkable wildlife, the film explores the life of Amy Liptrot, a returning island resident who takes up a job with the RSPB recording Corncrakes during her own battles with addiction and mental health. Recording the calls of these rare and secretive birds, as Amy recounts in her memoir, proves vital to monitoring the success of conservationists, farmers and communities in helping to protect this species.
Once widespread across the UK, Corncrake numbers began to fall dramatically from the early 20th Century, when farming was mechanised and earlier mowing of grass crops became the norm. Thankfully, local community, farmer and crofter efforts are continuing to help adapt farming methods and restore habitat across both Scotland and Northern Ireland, including a milestone 2,000 hectares of Corncrake friendly habitat having now been implemented across the Hebridean Islands alone, thanks to collaboration through the Corncrake Calling project. As a result of efforts like these, numbers of the bird were reported to have risen in Scotland for the first time in five years in 2023, giving hope for the fortunes of this elusive bird.
From Orkney to Lands End, tackling the nature and climate emergency is a challenge felt by both farmers and conservationists alike. As Katie-jo Luxton, RSPB Director of Conservation shares:
“With 70% of UK land farmed, we know we cannot save nature without the help of farmers. Despite the pressures that a changing climate and biodiversity loss can bring, many brilliant farmers and land managers are already rising to the challenge of restoring nature while still producing food in a profitable way.
“We know what it will take to secure the future of our wildlife and our food security; nature-friendly farming must be implemented at a far larger scale, and with adequate financial and technical support for farmers to deliver it. All eyes are on the governments of the UK to ensure the transition to sustainable and nature-rich farmland is delivered with the ambition our nature urgently needs.”
These efforts are just a snapshot of how farmers and crofters are farming productively and profitably, in harmony with nature.
Nature gives us the very things on which all food production depends and helps us tackle climate change. To make sure we can grow the food we need in the future, we must value the part nature plays and put it at the heart of the way we farm. If we do, it could also see the beginnings of a revival for so much of our wildlife with which we share these lands.
It’s vital that nature-friendly farmers get the support they need. Please support our call for investment in nature-friendly farming.
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