Farmland Bird Declines Indicate that European Farmers and Consumers get a Raw Deal
Farmland birds have undergone severe decline across Europe over the past 30 years, particularly in EU countries where the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) holds sway. Other wildlife apart from birds, though less well monitored, has also been impacted by agriculture – in many European countries, up to half the known invertebrates are under threat. Semi-natural habitats such as wetlands, wood-pastures, meadows and woodlands continue to be destroyed or degraded by the intensification of agricultural practices.
These declines are indicative of other negative trends associated with highly subsidized, intensive agriculture in Europe, including a massive loss of rural livelihoods, accelerated climate change, water shortages, flooding, pollution, soil erosion, salinisation and land degradation, and impoverishment of developing-country economies outside Europe. These problems have huge hidden costs that affect every European citizen.
BirdLife proposes 10 steps to reform the EU Common Agricultural Policy and to satisfy European consumers' demands for a healthy countryside, quality food, environmental protection and an equitable agricultural system:
- Phase out price supports over a period of about five years.
- Change the rules on access to EU markets.
- Separate all CAP support payments from production.
- Link CAP support payments to the environment and rural development.
- Continue to provide substantial levels of financial support to deliver environmental and social benefits in rural areas.
- Reduce rates of member-state funding for environmental and rural development projects.
- Target some environmental and rural-development support to areas with special needs.
- Target payments to help small farmers.
- Broaden the eligibility criteria for receiving CAP funding.
- Extend these proposals to an enlarged EU.
Source: Donald et al. (2001) Proc. R. Soc. London B 268: 25-29.