Hedgerows at risk: Nature in danger on farms - as vital hedge and river protection rules vanish with new year

British conservation groups are warning wildlife on farms is in more danger than ever - after rules protecting the streams and hedgerows animals need to survive disappeared with 2023.

The National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Wildlife Trusts have issued a call for the government to take action, and enshrine basic protection for nature on farms into law, for good. Ever since 2005, in order for farmers to receive rural payments they had to follow a series of regulations known as ‘cross compliance’. These rules included not farming the land right up to the edge of rivers to ensure farm pollution and soil was not washed into the water – as well as protecting hedgerows and maintaining green cover on soil.

After the UK left the European Union, the government announced these rules would cease to exist after 31 December 2023 - and would be replaced by new ones. But in a statement, the trusts said that Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had not confirmed if protections for nature would be maintained in the new legislation.

They said the absence of rules meant that farmers were free to cut hedges in the spring and summer, which risked harming nesting birds. It could also mean that more farm pollution and soil was washed into rivers already under huge pressure from pollutants. The Wildlife Trusts' land use policy manager, Barnaby Coupe, said the situation was desperate. "The UK government has ripped up important rules that help protect hedgerows and require buffer strips to prevent river pollution," he said.

This danger was compounded by low levels of uptake into new farming schemes which incentivised "only the most basic green practices on farm", he warned, leaving nature at a net loss. “The Environment Improvement Plan published just this year stated 'this government is committed to leaving the environment in a better state than we found it' – but this promise rings hollow now that safeguards against damaging farming practices have vanished. We need to see a firm commitment from government that protections for nature will be at the very least maintained this year at the same level as the old regulations.”

RSPB's sustainable land use head, Alice Groom, added: "In just the last five years, farmland bird species have declined by 8%, but loss of protections for hedgerows now means cutting can take place during this year’s nesting season." This could have a "catastrophic impact" on iconic farmland species like the yellowhammer, cirl bunting and turtle dove, she warned. "Species already pushed to the brink urgently need these gaps in protections to be filled, and monitoring and enforcement to be stepped up.

National Trust science director Rosie Hails said ending cross compliance rules without a sufficient replacement placed nature, water courses and historic hedgerows at increased risk. “For the benefit of nature and to give farmers clarity, it’s vital that that Defra addresses this regulatory gap with urgency as well as ensuring farmers are better able to access to the right advice, helping them adopt practices that best protect the environment while maximising opportunities through nature-friendly farming.”

NationalWorld has approached Defra for comment. The conservation groups said that in August 2023, Defra stated ‘‘the majority of rules under cross compliance are already in domestic law’’. However, they argued that the removal of cross compliance from January 2024 left regulatory gaps across hedgerows, soil cover and watercourse buffer strips that are not covered by existing regulation.

Defra also began a public consultation on hedgerows in 2023, seeking views on how it could "best protect hedgerows and the wildlife they support through English law" - which attracted some 9,000 submissions. But the trusts argued "regulatory gaps" between 1 January 1st and any new protections were now inevitable.

There are over 400,000km of hedgerows in England alone, which is estimated to be 50% less than there were 70 years ago. A recent RSPB report found that even with high uptake of new farming schemes, over 120,000km of hedgerows could be at risk from damaging practices due to the removal of cross compliance.