Of 100 corn buntings, 92 have disappeared from Austria’s meadows and fields in the past 25 years. The population of the Serin has fallen by 87 percent and that of the partridge by 81 percent. What the three bird species have in common: They live in cultivated landscapes, need diverse and small-scale structures with hedges, individual trees and uncultivated fallow land. This type of landscape is becoming increasingly rare.
The bird protection organization BirdLife fears that the situation for these species could deteriorate further. Because the EU has released fallow land – so-called ecological priority areas – for use. “Until now, these areas were a prerequisite for receiving direct payments, which account for a significant proportion of agricultural subsidies,” explains Christof Kuhn from BirdLife. This does not affect those areas that are funded by the agri-environmental program ÖPUL.
At the expense of ecology
The reason for the decision is the war in Ukraine, which has led to the failure of grain imports from the Eastern European country. The measure is intended to ensure security of supply.
But Kuhn thinks that’s the wrong approach: “The gain in additional production would be marginal, after all, these areas only make up around 9,000 hectares nationwide.” Instead, the bird conservationist suggests looking at other factors: “Around two-thirds of the grain grown in Austria is intended for animal feed, some is processed into fuel and burned, and there is also avoidable waste, i.e. discarded grain. Of course, food is all of our business ” says Kuhn. “But so should the welfare of ecology.” Other environmental protection organizations such as Global2000 also expressed concerns about the release of the fallow land.
However, the Chamber of Agriculture described this criticism as “exaggerated”: “There will continue to be extensive areas throughout Austria for the targeted promotion of biodiversity,” said a statement by Chamber President Josef Moosbrugger. He contrasted the 9,000 hectares in question with “700,000 hectares and thus more than a quarter of the agricultural area” that are farmed organically.
According to the Chamber of Agriculture, targeted measures to promote biodiversity are being taken on around seven percent of the agricultural land in Austria. In addition, farmers in Austria maintain 76,000 hectares of nature conservation areas, which are used sustainably and carefully according to conditions individually agreed between farmers and nature conservationists.
Source: Nachrichten
