Village Voice June July 19

MCV NEWS
www.milfordcv.org
IS ‘GREEN’ COUNTRYSIDE ALWAYS GOOD
FOR WILDLIFE?
I recently attended a ‘Re-wilding’ discussion at
the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
(HWT) in Curdridge (nr. Botley) in Hampshire.
During discussions, one of the HWT speakers
said something that made my jaw drop! He
said, ‘a green countryside was not necessarily
good for wildlife!’
In driving across the countryside, we pass lots
of farms and see lots of what we call ‘green
countryside’. In fact, what we actually see over
the course of a typical year is farmland that is
not ‘green’ at all e.g. oil-seed rape (yellow),
wheat and barley (golden) and flax (pale blue)
all of which make us feel great to be in the
countryside. But should it?
countryside. We already know that singlecropped
intensively farmed land is pretty poor
in helping create healthier and more abundant
wildlife. However, questions remain such as
how can we;
• feed ourselves?
• ensure that farms are profitable?
• increase pollinators? and,
• ensure that wildlife is enhanced so that we
can continue to enjoy our beautiful, yet
undoubtedly flawed countryside?
Looks pretty idyllic, but is it as good as it
could be for us and wildlife?
Unseasoned logs available
Between 75 and 80 per-cent of our countryside
is farmland. The rest of the landscape is
presumably taken up by towns, villages, brownfield
sites, water-bodies and the MOD!
Over the ensuing weeks, months and years, and
when we are out of the EU, we shall probably
be giving more thought to the use of our
Steve or Lorraine Mabbett
lorrainemabbett@sky.com
(01590) 381255 or
(07543) 901324
or
keithmetcalf@btinternet.com
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