CLM20-2 full issue-1 - Flipbook - Page 12
Measuring
conservation success
on farmland
Edward Darling, Tim Scott and Vince Lea
I
n the early 1990s, the newly formed
Countryside Restoration Trust (now the
Countryside Regeneration Trust; CRT) began to
acquire fields in a piecemeal fashion local to Lark
Rise Farm, Cambridgeshire – its headquarters and
home of founding chair Robin Page. The early
aims of the charity were to demonstrate that,
through innovative approaches to management,
the decline in farmland bird numbers could be
reversed while still farming profitably. Initial
efforts were successful, but it was clear that to
maximise the positive impact on bird populations
the CRT needed to add to the land area of Lark
Rise Farm. The first opportunity to do so came in
1998, when substantial Heritage Lottery Funding
allowed the purchase of a significant holding of
some 57ha of abutting farmland, known now
as ‘the ’98 Land’. In 2002, the CRT went on to
purchase a further area of farmland that became
available nearby – a plot named ‘Westfield’,
covering around 48ha. With a substantial increase
in the area under conservation management, the
effect on bird populations has been impressive.
Compared with a baseline of c. 3,000 randomlyselected sites, Lark Rise is now in the top 1%
for abundance of several red-listed farmland
birds, and in the top 1% or 10% of farms in
terms of its range of priority species. This article
describes the approach to management at Lark
Rise Farm, and explains how a recently developed
survey technique can offer a means of measuring
farmland bird populations in a way that allows
comparison between sites across the UK.
Management of ’98 Land and Westfield
From the outset, the CRT sought to develop an
approach to management that struck a balance
between profitable farming and conservation.
Amid intense debate around organic versus
‘conventional’ (chemical) farming, and the
associated trade-offs for wildlife and productivity,
the CRT made the decision not to farm
organically, but rather to use chemicals in ways
that would minimise impact on wildlife while still
achieving a profitable yield. Alongside the farmed
fields, we used a combination of stewardship
10 Conservation Land Management Summer 2022 | Vol. 20 No. 2
