Biodiversity

Agriculture – Hedge loss

What is a hedge?

• A hedge is a narrow belt of vegetation dominated by a variety of shrubs with occasional trees.

Why hedges?

• A barrier to livestock.
• For marking boundaries of property.
• A home for hundreds of animals and plants species.
• Wildlife corridors connecting woods and copses

Reasons for clearing hedges:

• Intensive farming requires larger machines and therefore larger fields to move around in efficiently (costs and time).
• Gain in workable land – a Devon farmer removed 1.5 miles of hedge and gained 3 acres of land and save 33% of time when harvesting.
• Save in hedge maintenance.
• No hedge weeds to contaminate a crop.

Facts and figures

• It is estimated that in the UK between 1945 and 1984 a distance of hedge was removed which equalled the distance of the earth to the moon.
  
• Between 1978-84, 28,000km of hedge was removed and 3,500km was replaced (Government grants for each activity were available!).
• 50% of the hedge loss was in the South East of England – a cereal growing area.

Impacts of hedge clearance:

• Aesthetic – changes the look of the land, loss of historical interest
• Ecological
• loss of biodiversity (especially wild flowers, insects, mammals and birds).
• loss of shelter and nesting areas.
• loss of corridors between woods – prevents migrations
• Agricultural
• Loss of beneficial insects which may destry pests (this is why some farmers are replanting).
• Loss of shelter for crops and animals (wind, wet and cold).
• Increased soil erosion.
• Loss of game birds (partridge).

Solutions:

• Replace hedges.
• Create hedge banks – strips of uncultivated land between crops.
• Set-a-side schemes/subsidies to maintain hedges.
• Good hedge maintenance schemes.
• Cut hedges when it has least effect on wildlife.
• Encourage traditional hedge-laying techniques – encourages aesthetics and biodiversity.

 Fishing

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MONOCULTURE
FERTILISERS
PESTICIDES
SOIL EROSION
NON-NATIVE SPECIES
ERADICATION
GENETIC EROSION
HEDGEROWS
DRAINAGE

AGRICULTURE & POLLUTION 
ORGANIC FARMING & CONSERVATION 
GM CROPS

Hedge dating– does it work?

Read the Memorandum by the National Hedge-laying Society at a Select Committee on the Environment meeting.

Questions?

How do you date hedges?

Is it always applied sensibly?
When is a hedge a hedge?
Is hedge loss the real reason for wildlife loss?
If you were a framer, does this memorandum simplify or complicate the issue of hedge loss 

Past and present maps:

Study the map of 1612 and 1980 for farmland in Suffolk. Devise a method to calculate hedge loss based on these maps.

Click to enlarge Suffolk farmland hedges in 1612 and 1980