Revealed: The ten farmland species that will be extinct within just 25 years

By DAVID DERBYSHIRE

Tree sparrows and common quails are suffering as Britain's countryside changes and their habitat is destroyed


Some of Britain's best loved farmland birds, flowers and butterflies will have vanished from the countryside for good 25 years unless the world acts to reverse mankind's 'attack on nature', conservationists warned last night.

They have named the 10 farmland species most likely to be driven to extinction by pesticides, intensive farming and the loss of precious habitats.

The list - compiled by the green farming group Conservation Grade - includes the harvest mouse, tree sparrow and corn marigolds - species once common in farms and hedgerows


The brown hairstreak butterfly and grey partridge are also both at risk


Other species on the hit list include the brown hairstreak butterfly, shrill carder bee and rough poppy.

The report comes as world leaders are preparing to meet in Nagoya, Japan for United Nations for talks on protecting wildlife and halting species loss.

The UN says the world is facing the worst losses of animal and plant species since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago .

Tim Nervard, head of Conservation Grade - a body that promotes nature-friendly farming - said: “The image most people have of the countryside is one rich with wildflowers, farmland birds and butterflies, but that picture has changed dramatically over the last forty years.

'Many species that we remember from childhood have become increasingly rare in the UK due to intensive farming methods.

'We need to feed the growing population – that is an absolute priority, but we also need to produce food in a way that doesn’t strip our planet bare of its biodiversity.

'Nagoya is the world’s last chance to start the change.'


Rough poppies, left, and corn marigolds, right, are struggling to pollinate


The shrill carder bee and the harvest mouse will both be extinct within 25 years


The list includes five farmland birds - the grey partridge, the common quail, the stone curlew, the tree sparrow and the cirl bunting.

It also features two wild flowers- the rough poppy and the corn marigold, along with the brown hairstreak butterfly, shrill carder bee and harvest mouse.

The species have been badly hit by the loss of ponds, meadows, woodlands and meadows. Since 1947, a staggering 97 per cent of Britain's herb-rich meadows have vanished - taking with them wild flowers and homes for birds, insects and mammals.
Changes to farming have also hit wildlife.

High yield and profitable winter varieties of crop sown in the autumn have largely replaced spring sown cops - with a disastrous effect on birds which used to feed on stubble, or nest in spring sown crops.

Since 1970 there has been a 70 per cent fall in the number of farmland birds, and a similar decline in bumblebees.


The cirl bunting, left, and stone curlew, right are both once common farmland birds that have been hit by the changing countryside


Matt Shardlow of BugLife said: 'Life is the Earth’s most precious commodity, but many animals are disappearing and pollination itself is under threat

'Buying food that is grown on land rich in bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other wildlife is good for you, good for future generations and good for the planet.'

Marina Pacheco of the Mammal Society said: 'Two of the greatest threats facing British mammals are the intensification of farming and habitat fragmentation through development. Anything that can be done to reduce the impact of farming on an already fragile ecosystem is tremendously important.'

Negotiators from more than 190 countries are meeting in Japan over the next two weeks to discuss ways of preventing the catastrophic loss of wildlife across the world.

The UN talks will debate the failure to meet targets for 'biodiversity loss' set in 2002 - and attempt to set new targets for 2020.


source: dailymail