16th December 2011
The RSPB in the East this week announce a new partnership with the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Buglife, to enable both organisations to provide more advice on wildlife friendly farming in the region.
The partnership hopes to significantly increase the number of farmers across the region receiving advice on bug-friendly farming methods, and provide a one-stop-shop to help them protect a wider variety of wildlife on their land.
Buglife is working to protect a range of rare farmland invertebrate species in the East of England including the Shining ram’s-horn snail which is found in ditches and the Large garden bumblebee that needs wildflower-rich meadow land and wetland
Richard Smith, Buglife farming & Pollinator Officer saidWorking with the RSPB is good news for invertebrates and good news for the countryside. Invertebrates are very important: they play a vital part in pollinating our crops and wild plants, and helping to maintain healthy soil. By providing farmers with the appropriate advice, they will be able to help conserve our essential farmland invertebrates”.
As a result of the new partnership, RSPB advisors will be able to deliver advice on protecting a multitude of invertebrate species including slugs, snails, bees, wasps, ants, spiders, beetles and butterflies.
Simon Tonkin explains: “East Anglia is dominated by arable farmland, an area on which many species rely for their survival. With 1.47 million hectares of land in the region dedicated to agriculture, to ensure a healthy future for some of our most vulnerable creatures, it is crucial that the management of this landscape takes the needs of wildlife into account.
“If we are to support the EU governments to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2020, it is increasingly important for conservation organisations like the RSPB and Buglife to work together.”
“The new partnership means that we can now pool our resources to assist farmers across the East to save all nature. Protecting and enhancing farmland bird populations requires the reconstruction of broken ecosystems and since insects provide essential food for birds, it makes sense that we help farmers to protect them too.”
