Helping you to help wildlife on your farm
Good conservation management is about understanding the locally important wildlife, choosing the right measures and managing them in the right way. Farm Wildlife has been developed with farmers for farmers.
Our management approach brings together best practice advice from a broad range of wildlife organisations to identify the 6 most important steps for restoring wildlife on your farm.
Why Take Part?
Taking the Farm Wildlife approach won't just help wildlife. Depending on how you choose to implement the advice, you could see much wider benefits across the farm.
Pollination
Pollinating insects, such as bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies are vital for both the pollination of crops and wildflowers.
Soil Health
Healthy and productive soil is the most valuable asset on the farm. Soils are home to over a quarter of living species on earth
Pest Control
Supporting beneficial insects improves biodiversity on the farm and forms part of an integrated approach to pest management
Farm Business
Supporting biodiversity on the farm can also open up opportunities for your business, including diversified income streams and new market opportunities
6 Key Actions...
To help farmland wildlife the most, try to implement a range of advice from these key actions.
Existing Habitats
Habitats already established on the farm are often the most wildlife-rich. Looking after the existing features on the farm and managing them well should be the priority when providing space for wildlife.
Flower-rich Habitats
Many native flowering plants depend on farming practices for survival, including rare arable specialists and the wildflower-rich grasslands which were once common-place across the landscape.
Field Boundaries
Field boundaries perform important functions for the farm, but also provide valuable habitat for wildlife. Well-managed boundary features can support a range of wildlife, as well as connecting habitats across the landscape.
Seed-rich Habitats
Traditional agriculture provided seed-rich habitats throughout the year that wildlife evolved to exploit. Many birds became farmland specialists, relying on these habitats for food, especially through the winter.
Wet Features
Water is a crucial element for wildlife.
With the right management wet habitats can provide some of the most wildlife-rich areas on farmland.
Farmed Area
Small tweaks in the management of the farmed area can deliver benefits to specific species or the overall farmed environment.
In practice
Put into practice, the Farm Wildlife approach can deliver real success.
Learn how other farmers have put Farm Wildlife principles into practice
