Close
Search
Menu Menu

Intensive farming is the primary driver of bird decline in Europe

Credit: Unsplash
By
London, UK
0 energy + Add Energy
What is energy?
Want to show your appreciation? Give an article “Energy” and it will help us know what you like.
0 comments
0 comments

New research has identified the use of pesticides and fertilisers in agriculture as the leading cause behind the continent’s dwindling avifauna populations.

According to more than 50 researchers who analysed data collected by thousands of scientists in 28 countries over nearly four decades, intensive farming is the primary driver of bird decline in Europe.

The report, which found the continent’s avifauna populations to have dropped by about a quarter since 1980, identified the use of pesticides and fertilisers as the leading cause of this.

It examined 170 species to establish the different human-induced pressures affecting them by correlating this with statistics on the climate crisis, land use and forest cover changes, urbanisation, and agriculture practices.

Compared with a generation ago, 550 million fewer birds now fly above us, with wild species like swifts, yellow wagtails, and spotted flycatchers – those reliant on invertebrates for food –the hardest hit.

‘It’s more than a smoking gun,’ said Richard Gregory, a senior conservation scientist at the RSPB, and one of the lead authors of the study (published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).

‘I don’t think a study has looked at all these factors in one go, in such a sophisticated fashion, correcting for one variable alongside another; and it comes out with a very clear message.’

As revealed by the study, farmland species suffered the most precipitous decline, with numbers falling by 56.8 per cent since research began.

Common bird populations' rate of decline slows down - Products Eurostat News - Eurostat

Additionally, numbers of urban dwelling birds are down 27.8 per cent, and among woodland dwelling birds the fall was 17.7 per cent.

‘The losses are quite huge,’ Gregory said. ‘And a lot of them go back to that kind of an insect diet or linkage with insects, which is suggestive of a link to the way we’re farming land.’

What he refers to here is the mass slaughter of invertebrates as pests which is creating a ‘trophic cascade’ up the food chain.

Second to this contributor is urbanisation, which is seeing cities steadily losing to development what little plots of green space they had, followed by rising temperatures due to global warming, which makes it difficult for cold-preferring species of birds to survive.

‘We know many of the urban birds that live in those environments, that their numbers are declining very strongly, driven we think by the problems in relation to the food supplies, but also house construction and how that’s changing, how the modernisation is removing their natural kind of nest sites in those areas,’ Gregory said.

He asserted that only the rapid implementation of transformative change in European societies and agricultural reform led by both policymakers and the general public would pose a solution.

This call was echoed by the RSPB’s head of sustainable land use policy in England, Alice Groom, who says ‘governments should ensure agri-environment schemes reward nature-friendly farming practices such as flower-rich margins and herbal leys that are proven to enable farmers to produce good food whilst supporting progressive reductions in the use of pesticides and fertilisers.’

Feature Media Manager & Senior Writer London, UK

Sofia (She/Her) – I’m the Feature Media Manager and a Senior Writer at Thred, specialising in exclusive articles and live interviews, fashion and beauty with a focus on sustainability, women’s rights, psychedelics, and Latin America. I studied Spanish at the University of Exeter and International Journalism at City, London. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

Popular

Keep up with thred by signing up to our planet-positive newsletter!

More from thred.

Sadiq Kahn says the Thames River will be safe to swim in by 2034
Credit: Thred
Planet

Sadiq Kahn says the Thames River will be safe to swim in by 2034

The Mayor of London has announced a decade-long plan to clean up the Thames River in hopes that city-dwellers will one day safely swim in its waters. Do you ever find yourself walking along Southbank on a hot summer’s day, wishing you could take a refreshing dip in the River Thames? No, me neither. Regardless, the capital’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a new ‘moonshot plan’ to make London’s winding river...

By London, UK
Plant diseases are increasingly destroying EU trees and crops
Credit: Pexels
Planet

Plant diseases are increasingly destroying EU trees and crops

While farmers and conservationists struggle to contain previously introduced pathogens, new outbreaks are being detected. According to scientists, the problem will only get worse as temperatures rise. Infectious diseases don’t just threaten the health of humans and animals. Plants are also susceptible to new pathogens, and scientists are concerned that a growing number of species could be at risk as temperatures rise and the climate, as a result, carries on...

By London, UK
Is Bark Air’s flight service for dogs really necessary?
Credit: Bark Air/Thred
Companies

Is Bark Air’s flight service for dogs really necessary?

Bark Air is the first airline offering luxury flights for our furry friends. But they’ll cost you.  In today’s world, convenience tends to reign supreme. If you can afford it, anyway. Bark Air, a new airline for – you guessed it – dogs, is taking our obsession with convenience to new heights. The brand launches this May, and will offer international flights for our furry friends. Routes will cover New York to London...

By Brighton, UK
Accessibility