Arable farming: The options for game and wildlife.

Abstract

Global famine has been averted by intensification of crop production, but with a trade-off in depleted biodiversity, as exemplified by the plight of the grey partridge. Most of the methods of restoring partridge numbers require some degree of de-intensification and this will increasingly compete with new uses for land such as bio-fuel and other industrial crops, carbon sequestration and also responses to global food demands. Although no more grain will need to be grown annually in Europe by 2020 for home consumption, the amount needed globally will increase by 40%. So far as grey partridges are concerned, intensive management, not just to encourage the insect foods eaten by chicks, but also including predator control and year-round feeding with grain can restore numbers, but is costly. Nevertheless it appears to be the only way these partridges and intensive farming can co-exist. Many benefits of such management would be external to both farming and game conservation, arising through improved biodiversity. Governments are obliged to provide incentives under the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992, but progress has been very slow, concentrating on habitat improvement rather than the remaining parts of necessary management and the partridge decline continues. So far as farm biodiversity is concerned a holistic approach is vital. This would prioritise land-use, farmers would know what they had to do in the long term. Not incidentally it would show traditional ley farming in a better light than has been the case for 50 years. Reconciling the requirements of people and ecosystems must soon be tackled globally.