Wildlife and Farming: Towards a Reconciliation
Aside from the views of pioneer thinkers and romantics, perception of the relationship between agriculture and the countryside by the general public has changed this century from acceptance of the status quo, to increasing consciousness of environmental problems. Recent global and European initiatives now form the basis of a strengthened package of anti-surplus and agri-environmental measures, which give some support to the enhancement of biodiversity, for instance by the redesign of fields. More fundamentally, there needs to be a more ecological approach to agricultural systems, and in particular a shift towards organic farming. Prospects for the latter must depend on an increased market share for home-grown organic produce, while both organic farming and wildlife initiatives will in the longer term depend on wider community participation, thus reversing a trend set at the start of the Industrial Revolution.