http://ens.lycos.com/ens/nov2000/2000L-11-21-10.html
Environment
European Union Spares UK's Beloved
Hedgerows
BRUSSELS, Belgium, November 21,
2000 (ENS) - The humble hedgerow that once defined Britain's landscape
has been saved from widespread destruction thanks to an exemption granted
under European law.
The United Kingdom's hedgerows date back to the Bronze Age.
(Photo courtesy National Trust)
Hedgerows are one of the last tangible links
with the country's ancient past. Bronze Age farmers began separating
their livestock with hedgerows 5,000 years ago, dividing the countryside
into a patchwork quilt.
But aside from their esthetic value, hedgerows are vital habitat for more
than 60 bird species. Whitethroats and blackcaps migrate from Africa to
nest and feed in the hedges during summer to be replaced by redwings from
Scandinavia in winter. Hedgehogs, moles, shrews, badgers and weasels all
make hedgerows home, and bats dine out on the hundreds of invertebrate
species.
Fifty years ago, the United Kingdom's hedgerows stretched for 800,000
kilometers, (500,000 miles). After years of neglect and modern
agricultural practices, culminating in a government subsidy that actually
paid farmers to rip out hedges, less than half that length remains today.
Farmland birds suffered as a consequence, particularly grey partridges,
song thrushes, linnets, bullfinches and corn buntings.
In recent years, though, farmers and government have realized hedgerows'
worth. In 1989, the government reversed its old policy and began to pay
subsidies for planting and maintaining hedges. In 1997, it introduced The
Hedgerow Regulations, which made unauthorized destruction of hedgerows a
criminal offence.
Badgers find a home in hedgerows. (Picture
courtesy Countryside
Agency)
Just when it seemed
that hedgerows may begin to flourish again, the European Union's arable
payments scheme threatened their widespread elimination.
Under the scheme, farmers who applied for European Union subsidies based
on the area of their fields would have to tear up hedgerows wider than
two meters (6.6 feet). The policy led to heavy protests in environmental
protection circles and the British press, who claimed that the European
Union was forcing British farmers, for the sake of agricultural use, to
cut down hedges.
Intense lobbying by the UK's National Farmers' Union and the Ministry of
Agriculture culminated in European Agriculture Commissioner Franz
Fischler announcing Monday that British hedgerows are safe under the
arable payments scheme.
Intensive modern agriculture enabled many farmers to
replace pastures with crops, and large agricultural machinery made small
fields impractical. (Photo by Ian Britton, courtesy
http://Freefoto.com)
"Hedgerows
often play an important environmental role and are part of a longstanding
farming tradition, in particular in the UK," said Fischler.
"The Commission has made a major effort to find a clear legislative
solution. I think we have found a fair deal. In short, British hedgerows
are safe - no farmer should feel motivated to cut them down."
The European Union's executive arm, the European Commission, decided that
hedgerows and other traditional land features, such as ditches and walls,
are part of the agriculture area eligible for farm aid if they are
traditionally part of good agricultural cropping and utilization
practises.
"I am sure the farming industry, environmental organizations and the
many members of the public who have been concerned about the potential
threat to the countryside and its biodiversity which would have resulted
from a strict application of the so called two meter rule will welcome
this outcome," said Ministry of Agriculture Better Regulation
Minister Joyce Quin.
Quin thanked Fischler and praised his concern for the UK's traditional
landscape features.
NFU vice president Michael Paske said the ruling was a victory shared by
farmers and conservationists alike.
European Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler.
(Picture courtesy European
Commission)
"The
Commission has been made aware of the unique network of hedgerows, field
margins and ditches that make up Britain's countryside and the huge
importance placed upon them. The Ministry of Agriculture has also
provided the assurances that UK farmers secure no advantage from this
calculation and that to alter the system would have created many more
losers in terms of the countryside and wildlife."
Meurig Raymond, vice chairman of the NFU's Cereals Committee, said he was
pleased common sense had prevailed.
"In the current climate for cereals producers, the prospect of being
forced to rip out field boundaries at the behest of Brussels would have
been one regulation too far," said Raymond.
The dense and prickly hedgerow, described 2,000 years ago by Julius
Caesar as "impossible to penetrate," may yet have its
renaissance.
©
Environment News Service
(ENS)
2000. All Rights Reserved.
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