Agriculture

Environmental impacts

Our scientists investigate a range of impacts resulting from changes in food production. These can be direct, such as grassland management reducing the ability of birds to nest successfully; indirect, such as lead shot poisoning predators higher up the food chain; or both, such as pesticides causing direct mortality in non-target organisms and reducing availability of seed or invertebrate foods to other animals.

Not all impacts are adverse and some agricultural techniques can aid wildlife. At the RSPB’s Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire, we show it is possible for wildlife and productive, profitable farming to co-exist. Most European countries have agri-environment schemes which contain wildlife-friendly management, although these are not always the most frequently-adopted options.

Land management solutions

Understanding the environmental impacts brought about by changes in agriculture allows us to design and test potential solutions to conservation problems.

To be widely adopted by farmers, solutions must be practical, low-cost or remunerated by initiatives such as EU agri-environment schemes (AES).

The RSPB is at the forefront of testing practical solutions for farmland birds, which are thoroughly evaluated to ensure they work before being rolled out more widely via mechanisms such as AES.

RSPB monitoring of AES provides governments with evidence on how effective the schemes are in delivering increases in bird populations at the farm-scale and beyond.