 Chris Gomersall/RSPB Images
The Skylark has declined in many parts of western Europe as a result of more intensive farming
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Don't set aside set-aside: Europe’s nature under further threat as Commission decides to reduce set-aside to 0%
14-09-2007
The European Commission has published its proposal to reduce the rate of set-aside [1] to 0% for the 2008 harvest year.
BirdLife International [2] regrets this decision as the annulment of set-aside for 2008 could deal a severe blow to the already struggling farmland bird populations and other wildlife [3].
Set-aside represents an important refuge for wildlife in intensive farmed landscapes. For example, researchers in the UK have observed that when the set-aside area was halved in the 1990s, the number of farmland birds also showed a serious decline. Recently published research [4] from Sweden has demonstrated the link between set-aside level and numbers of farmland birds such as Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis, Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris and Eurasian Linnet Carduelis cannabina.
Eurasian Skylark and Northern Lapwing use set-aside to nest, rare plants grow in these untouched pieces of farmland and Yellowhammer Emberiza Citrinella and Corn Bunting Miliara Calandra profit from the extra food.
Some birds like the threatened Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax in France depend on set-aside for their survival. The Commission’s decision is likely to inflict heavily on the habitats of these species in the coming months.
"...this rushed decision is likely to do real and immediate harm on the ground before the issue is thoroughly evaluated." —Ariel Brunner, BirdLife’s EU Agriculture Policy Officer
Ariel Brunner, BirdLife’s EU Policy Officer: “Although the Commission has recognised the environmental benefits of set-aside and has promised to do a full assessment of it in next year’s Common Agricultural Policy ‘Health Check’, this rushed decision is likely to do real and immediate harm on the ground before the issue is thoroughly evaluated.”
The EU’s justification given for this decision rests on concern for the low availability of cereals on the market which could result in increasing food prices.
“This justification is in complete contradiction to numerous declarations made by the European Commission in the context of the biofuel debate where it is repeatedly stated that Europe has a huge potential for increased use of agricultural land for energy production,” argues Brunner.
“If we are already facing a crisis in the cereal sector, how can we pursue a vast increase in biofuel production?” he says. “On the other hand if the Commission claims that we have potentially up to 17.5 million hectares available for biofuel expansion, how can we justify the haste in tapping into set-aside without any proper evaluation?”
BirdLife International urges the Commission and Member States to introduce emergency offset measures, for example in the context of cross-compliance while a permanent environmental solution is developed in the context of the Health Check.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Ariel Brunner, EU Agriculture Policy Officer of BirdLife International, +32 (0)2 280 08 30
Herlinde Herpoel, Media and Communication Officer of BirdLife International, +32 (0)2 541 07 82
Editor's notes:
[1] The history of set-aside:
Set-aside was introduced in 1992 with the aim of taking land out of production to reduce the EU’s infamous grain mountains.
Recent changes to the way subsidies are paid to Europe’s farmers now seem to have made set-aside redundant and it is likely to be abolished during the forthcoming CAP Health Check in 2008/09.
The introduction of set-aside proved an accidental boon to wildlife, including many birds, by providing a source of food in the winter and a safe place to nest. Set-aside is particularly vital for ground nesting birds like the Grey Partridge Perdix perdix, Stone Curlew Burhinus Oedicnemus and the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax which have nowhere else to breed in Europe’s most intensively cultivated landscapes. Thus set-aside became an important measure to compensate at least partly for environmental damage done by agricultural intensification.
[2] BirdLife International is a global alliance of conservation organisations working in more than 100 countries and territories. BirdLife is the leading authority on the status of birds, their habitats and the problems affecting them.
[3] Biodiversity benefits of set-aside across the EU:
In the breeding season, set-aside holds high densities of many bird species, compared to other arable land-use types and provides important nesting opportunities for species of high conservation concern.
- The French population of Little Bustard Otis tetrax for example is critically dependant on sympathetically managed set-aside.
- Research conducted by BirdLife Austria suggests set aside to be the single most important factor determining the density of wintering raptors, the diversity of farmland birds and the densities of several threatened or declining species such as the Great Bustard Otis tarda or Grey Partridge Perdix perdix.
- Set-aside is thought to have been one of the contributing factors to the recent levelling out of farmland bird numbers in England following a long-term decline. Sparrows, finches, buntings and game birds, for example, have significantly higher abundances on set-aside land than on winter cereals in England in the summer, and 80% of the linnet population in the East Anglia area of the UK winters on set-aside, compared to only 1% on winter cereals.
[4] Johan Wretenberg, Ake Lindström, Sören Svensson, Tomas Pärt. Linking agricultural policies to population trends of Swedish farmland birds in different agricultural regions. Journal of Applied Ecology, no. 44, pp. 933-941.