British bird species 'face extinction' if EU cuts £8bn agriculture subsidy

  Turtle doves, yellow wagtails and grey partridges are among those at risk

The yellow wagtail has been added to the 'red list' of the UK's most threatened birds. 

Conservation groups are warning that the UK could lose several species of bird within a decade if, as expected, billions of pounds of European funding to help farmers promote biodiversity are cut.

Under details being thrashed out as part of a rebalancing of the Common Agricultural Policy budget, some £8bn for rural development is likely to be lost, according to the RSPB. Billions more could also go under new rules allowing EU member states to divert money to food production away from schemes that protect fields and heritage sites. The RSPB said the plans would spell disaster for wildlife in England and the rest of Europe.

"It is outrageous news that President van Rompuy is asking EU leaders to cut the largest single budget for wildlife conservation in the UK," said Martin Harper, the RSPB's director of conservation. "It would be a disaster. We've seen a proposal which could have led to the pot of money for wildlife-friendly farming being cut by up to one third. The loss of wildlife from our farmed countryside is a crisis which to date no politician has faced up to. We need European leaders to recognise that funding to tackle this must not be traded away when they next come together to thrash out a deal. Our landscapes, farmers and wildlife depend on the future of this funding."

Rural development cash is used to develop agri-environment schemes that pay farmers to manage hedgerows and wildflower flowers that provide vital food and shelter for birds. The cash funded England's Higher Level Stewardship Scheme which has been credited with playing a major part in protecting wildlife. Since the first agri-environment schemes were introduced in 1987, tens of thousands of farmers and landowners have helped wildlife, according to the RSPB.

"These payments provide excellent value for taxpayers' money by delivering benefits for rural communities and wildlife – but they are an easy target when it comes to cutting budgets," Harper said. "Once again our environment is set to suffer for the sake of short-term political convenience."

The RSPB warned that without this funding, some species could be lost from our countryside "within a decade". Wildlife groups say the number of farmland birds has halved since the 1980s and fear that budget cuts will mean the UK fails to hit its biodiversity targets for 2020. The number of turtle doves in the UK has fallen by 93%, down to 14,000 pairs, while corn buntings have declined 90%, down to 11,000 pairs. Grey partridges are down 93%, to 43,000 pairs while there has been a 72% decline in yellow wagtails to 15,000 pairs.

A survey of farmers for the RSPB found 51% believed the environmental work would be severely hit by the predicted cutbacks, and 7% thought it would stop completely.

- Guardian.co.uk