Conservationists in Wales have reacted strongly to a farming union leader’s claims that declines in upland birds are due to increased numbers of predators and that environmentalists themselves are “scapegoating” farmers by suggesting the industry has played a part in the decline.

The Union’s Ceredigion county chair Fred Williams claimed last week that conservationists are “turning a blind eye to predation” of ground-nesting birds by foxes, badgers and crows. His comments were made after a report by Welsh environmental consultancy Ecology Matters posited that intensive farming practices and overgrazing by sheep could be contributing to the loss of birdlife from Plynlymon, mid Wales. 

However, the consultancy’s Mick Green said he had never laid the blame solely on farmers and was puzzled by Mr William’s comments, particularly as other studies on Plynlymon, which his group had highlighted, showed that numbers of raptors are falling alongside other birds.

Over the past two years, studies conducted in the area by Ecology Matters and the Welsh Kite Trust have revealed numbers of iconic bird species have dropped dramatically since 1984. Golden plover have declined by 92 per cent on Plynlymon and red grouse numbers have fallen by 48 per cent. Four species, teal, peregrine, ring ouzel and black headed gull, have become extinct in the area.

Jack Reedy, a spokesperson for the Badger Trust, also questioned Mr Williams’ assertions that “Doubling badger and fox numbers means that they regularly target ground-nesting birds and their eggs.” He said, “Of course wildlife has to find food - and that includes ground nesting birds and their eggs. Badgers have always followed the food supply – mostly the earthworm – and local weather conditions can vary the availability of worms and with it the badger population. Birds have to do the same, such as the red kites he mentions. But they were almost wiped out not so long ago, not by wildlife but by those wishing to grab their prey for themselves.”

Commenting on the spat, Reg Thorpe, Head of Conservation for RSPB Cymru said, “Species decline is a complex picture made up of several factors which range from climate change affecting food availability at key times, changes in the extent and condition of habitat and predation pressures. If we wish to improve the situation for these declining species the most important thing we need to do is provide the conditions they require. Providing these for a range of species requires creating a mosaic across the uplands.”

He continued that, as custodians of much of the Welsh countryside, “The only people who can really do this, through using their skills and expertise, are the people who farm the land.”

The conservation officer called for a rapprochement between the two sides of the debate, to foster mutual understanding and realise benefits for the Welsh countryside and those that inhabit it. He stated, “Going forward, discussion should focus on the need for appropriate grazing with clear objectives that land owners can buy into. If we value our wildlife we need to see support for the farming community to enable them to deliver what wildlife require in a way that fits into current farming systems.”

Figures from the RSPB show that, although numbers of predatory mammals are thought to have increased over the 20th Century in the UK, they began to decline once more after the year 2000. Taken with other data, the population changes of these predators and their prey do not appear to tally.

FUW chair Mr Williams said last week, "People have been farming livestock on Pumlumon since the Iron Age and agriculture has been an important part of the ecosystem for thousands of years. It’s great to see a species like the red kite thriving after having been brought back from the verge of extinction but we also have to take care that we don't create a massive problem for the species which red kites prey on.

"Conservationists who bury their heads in the sand and blame farming for all the ills of the world are causing immense harm to our wildlife and must wake up to the damage that allowing predator numbers to rise without check can cause."

The Badger Trust’s Mr Reedy concluded, “The fact remains that throughout aeons of evolution the badger and the ground nesting birds coexisted quite happily as species until economics - agricultural and sporting - arrived in recent centuries.”

“Some farmers are all too ready to call for predators to be 'controlled' in the interests of their livestock and crops, but without evidence. The RSPB concluded that the badger does not consititute a threat to any bird species and are not economically significant predators of game birds. However, that is not to say that effects on a specific locality may not be significant.”

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