FARMERS across Warwickshire are bucking trends by showing it is possible to help nature recover while making a profit.
Around 1,500 football pitches worth of land in the county was used this year to grow oats for cereal company Jordans.
And the equivalent of some 450 pitches of this space was dedicated to local wildlife and had seen hares, bats, owls and butterflies thrive in land including hedgerows, ponds and fields.
The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust – which developed the plans across three farms – says it proves there is an alternative to the intensive farming which has led to the decline in animals, insects and birds.
Trust spokesman Ian Jelley said: “Intensification of agriculture is one of the factors which have contributed to the decline of our native wildlife, and we now stand at a crossroads, with an opportunity to reverse that wildlife decline if the right decisions are made.
“Some 70 per cent of Warwickshire is agricultural land and therefore we must work with the farming community to give wildlife a chance of survival and allow it to exist everywhere.”
The trust is calling for more farmers to dedicate land to wildlife and embrace their roles as ‘custodians of the countryside’ while reaping the rewards with a bumper crop.
Visit www.warwickshirewildlifetrust.org.uk for more information.
