THE ENVIRONMENT
RSPB - A new one-stop shop for wildlife information for farmers
A new website has been created by the RSPB in partnership with a wide range of other conservation organisations (including Game Conservancy Trust, English Nature, FWAG, Rural Development Services, etc) to give farmers and their advisers information about farmland wildlife conservation.
The site is www.farmwildlife.info. There are three elements to the site: case studies, a discussion forum and an information library. The case studies feature farmers doing conservation work, explaining what they have done, any problems they have had and how they have resolved them.
The discussion forum allows farmers to ask questions - and get prompt answers, and advisers to post new ideas and information. The information library directs visitors to the site to the most relevant information available on all aspects of managing farms for wildlife.
RSPB Newsletter for Farmers
Get tips on managing for farmland birds and providing The Big Three for individual species (safe nesting sites, food in winter (seeds) and food in summer (insects)), together with updates on RSPB farmland bird research and advisory work and how to provide habitats for birds through Environmental Stewardship. Go to www.rspb.org.uk/farming and click on `RSPB Plus' in the top right hand corner of the page to sign up to receive the RSPB's quarterly farming eNewsletter.
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SOWAP (SOil and WAter Protection) represents a collaborative attempt by industry, NGOs, academic institutions and farmers to address the environmental, economic and social concerns arising from the practice of conventional agriculture.
SOWAP's arrival on the scene could not have been timed better. In May, DEFRA (Dept of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) launched it's First Soil Action Plan for England 2004-2006 and in August, initiated a consultation to tackle diffuse water pollution from agriculture.
Working in the UK, Belgium and Hungary over the next 3 years, SOWAP will test a range of site-specific soil management methods, based on the concept of conservation tillage. It will look at the economics of the operations as well as effects on soil erosion and pesticide and fertiliser run-off. Birds, earthworms and aquatic invertebrates are some of the biodiversity indicators the project will measure. There are two UK sites at Loddington and Tivington. For more on the work in these areas and in Europe, visit their website www.sowap.org
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Parrett Catchment Project (PCP), Somerset
Climate change may be a global concern, but its effects will very much be felt at the local level. The summer floods of 1997 and the severe flooding of 1999/2000 proved that the Parrett catchment’s river system is unable to cope in extreme weather events, and the likelihood of increased stormy conditions, combined with rising sea levels will make the problem of flooding much greater over the next few decades. As such, local agencies and people came together in 2000 to form the Parrett Catchment Project (PCP), whose aim it is to take action to address the issue of flooding now, rather than storing up problems for the future.
View the event information regarding the Roadshow 'A future when it rains' , which is touring Somerset in October and November.
View the latest copy of 'Catchment Matters', the newsletter of the Partnership.
For more information and to view past newsletters visit www.parrettcatchment.info
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Last Updated 13/12/06