Bottom 10% in the world in bio-diversity

The loss of species in the U.K. in the last 50 years has been enormous - something like 70% - yes the stress on growth at the cost of the natural world is horrific. One thing we should be ashamed of being world beating. Those ancient oaks being chopped down for HS2 made me cry.

HS2 is undoubtedly a travesty but it started with the industrial revolution.
All governments have been poor in this area I feel but I have no faith in this government to address the crisis. They make lots of pronouncements but haven't even set targets here.

Population pressure is affecting all countries, in the UK we like things clean and tidy, organized. If we all stopped gardening and let natural plants grow in our parks and gardens there would be lot we havnt seen for years. This year in my garden I have a patch of Scarlet Pimpernel, first time in 10 yrs.

I still hear owls even during the day, have deer eating the roses and runner beans in the garden, loads of wren fledglings - one landed on my head briefly the other day, bluebells in my wooded area, green woodpeckers laughing, and cows mooing in the field.

Even so I am lucky as I agree we have lost so much and one of the prime factors is so many new houses being built and not for local people either. If the planning rules are relaxed it will be even worse. No one seems to think of the infrastructure or impact on nature. Also agree about HS2.

Here we are going to have a community orchard with the original varieties of fruit that grew in the area so it will redress the balance a wee bit. However, it has to be carefully balanced. Reintroducing red kites andnot keeping the number of predators down means other species suffer.

Not sure where you live ww but owls are so noisy where I am that they are pests ? and I have to turn the tv up.I hear cuckoos too at that time of year, and the scent of grass and our own herbs too.
All down to where a person lives.

When growing up in the 50’s ( large council estate near countryside) I never heard owls or cuckoos.
At the moment there is so much building going on here in the South (in every village and edge of towns) that rough grassland is being lost, which will affect various species.
The alternative is that people are short of housing.
Planners are asking builders to put in so many trees/shrubs and green natural spaces as they can but inevitably they can’t replicate what is lost.

Yet we get constant calls/demands to build more houses as the U.K. population grows.

It is a balancing act.

I live in a commuter belt village I can be in the middle of the country or on the beach in ten minutes. I gave a garden full of birds, foxes and squirrels, when we go to the stables there are badgers, hedgehogs along with owls.

The prime factor is the way we farm - not housing.

I live on the South Downs which one would think is very bio-diverse but that is far from the reality.

Much of it has been too overgrazed with the resultant issues that don’t need to be explained.

Whitewavemark2

The prime factor is the way we farm - not housing.

Many farmers have been planting hedgerows for years now along with woodlands and rewinding. Not all are big factory farms .

If the U.K. is going to move to being able to feed itself with less imports farming has to adapt and diversify.

Re-wilding not *rewinding !!!!

Why are we not importing and exporting food?

I think a lot of farmers have been diversifying and adapting for some time just to survive. Milk is being turned into yogurt, ice cream and cheese. Farm shops are being set up. Unusual cash crops such as Quinoa are being grown. Oil seed rape is being pressed for oil and sold by the farm. Loads more examples.

Whitewavemark2

Why are we not importing and exporting food?

I was under the impression that less imports/exports are better for the carbon footprint of the U.K. /world.

The goals of less carbon emissions are only a few years off (Germany obviously hasn’t read the memo as they are currently knocking down a complete village in order to opencast mine for coal), China, Russia and India have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the world regarding emissions, which affect bio-diversity along with human health.

I give up

I think I might live by 25Avalon! I hear owls and cuckoos too and we have deer in the garden but most of them are forrin deer but all the farmland here is being built on for people to commute, thousands and thousands of houses that no one local can afford!

we have issues with red kites bullying the buzzards and other birds of prey too

Whitewavemark2

The prime factor is the way we farm - not housing.

Of course housing is a major factor in loss of the countryside! Every town is expanding with new houses being built on the outskirts. The rate of housing growth is terrifying. I have to wonder when it will stop, or are new houses to be built and built until the towns all merge into one. There has to be a stop point but I can't see that ever happening. Unless the population growth stops there will always be a need for more houses.

Our building work in my closest town is joining up with other towns too. I was very sad to see they building hundreds of houses on farmland in a neighbouring village too. I am not a nimby fwiw but there really are not enough schools and def not enough Drs. The town is absolutely desperate for supported living housing too, none of that is planned. I suspect they'll all be shipped elsewhere

Can you really wonder why there is loss of bio-diversity when you look at the number of people here. Just to compare, the population of New Zealand in 2019 was 4.9 million, the same as the UK was in the year 1650 !!
As of 2019 the population of the UK was 66.6 million so goodness knows what it is now.
We are overcrowded and yet people keep saying we need more people!

Well I’ve posted about farming before.

I’m just wondering Www2 what you would like to see change in regard to farming practices?

Chestnut

Whitewavemark2

The prime factor is the way we farm - not housing.

Of course housing is a major factor in loss of the countryside! Every town is expanding with new houses being built on the outskirts. The rate of housing growth is terrifying. I have to wonder when it will stop, or are new houses to be built and built until the towns all merge into one. There has to be a stop point but I can't see that ever happening. Unless the population growth stops there will always be a need for more houses.

The prime reason for lack of bio-diversity is farming.

Intensive arable farming has taken its toll, I agree.

Just too many people for the world to support and let wildlife flourish.

So I’ll ask again. What would you like to see change?

It might be helpful if the OP could give us a link to her source?