how has farming + agriculture impacted British countryside?

• what is this about?

  the type of practices, the needed space, consequently the habits this designated space replaced eg: ponds + wetlands often filled in, hedgerows + woodland removed, whole fields given over to a single species of grasses. Livestock farming results in overgrazing (the livestock prevent natural landscapes, eg: woodland, from regenerating).
• what should we do to prevent loss of hedgerows?

  maintain natural hedgerows, plant hedges instead of using fences to mark boundaries.
• what does keeping the hedgerows do?

  maintains and provides an important habitat for small mammals, hedgerows birds and helps to support a broader more diverse community.
• what should we do to prevent loss of wetlands?

  maintains existing ponds and bodies of water, create "wildlife ponds", leave corners of fields wet.
• why is it good to keep the wetlands?


  they are another important habitat home to specific communities which is important.
• how can we avoid chemicals?

  avoid pesticides, use organic alternatives to pest control, use nitrogen-fixing plants (like peas) in crop rotation to boost nitrates instead of chemical fertilisers, use organic fertilisers not synthetic.
• why shouldn't we use chemicals?

  run off from fertilisers and pesticides mean its not just the local communities of the farm land impacted but also nearby watercourses, rivers and streams.
• how can we prevent loss of biodiversity?

  plant native trees in low diversity areas, maintain diversity of meadows by using hay for silage instead of monoculture of grasses, allow verges and hedgerows to flower and seed before cutting back. Maximising the range of species.
• why should we prevent loss of biodiversity?

  is important to preserve native species, allowing plants to flower and seed lets them reproduce so maintaining their population and supporting other organisms.