Does the RSPB blame farmers for bird declines?
The RSPB does not blame farmers for the losses we have seen in the countryside birds. The problems lie in the policies which dictate how farmers run their businesses and how they manage their land. These policies – designed at a time of food shortages after the Second World War – encouraged increased food production. Responding to these signals, many farmers intensified their farming methods on arable and livestock systems. The policies have failed to fully reward the vital conservation role farmers and crofters have in managing the land on which many species rely. Despite this a number of farmers have worked to conserve species on their land – often at their own expense.
