Natural England and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) published their joint report on environmental state of Green Belt land in England and the benefits it provides for people and wildlife on 28th January.

Green belts are areas of wild or agricultural land surrounding urban areas, where development is prevented in order to stop urban sprawl into the countryside and retain open spaces for the population. England has 14 green belt areas, covering 13% of the country and providing important cultural services such as recreational space for the 30 million or so people that live near these areas. They also contain a third of England’s local nature reserves, and support more than 260,000 hectares of high quality agricultural land.

The report is positive about the contribution that green belt land has made towards improving the state of the countryside and well-being of the population, however, warns of challenges facing it with increasing pressure from development and the growing population. It urges

- better and more coordinated land management of these areas

- more investment to improve its resources (for recreation, production and nature conservation)

- better connectivity of green belt areas to help cope with climate change and improve recreational networks.

Download ‘Green Belts: a Greener Future’.

New research conducted under the EU-funded ALARM project (Assessing LArge scale environmental Risks for biodiversity with tested Methods) has identified land-use practices and agrochemical use as the main pressures causing a decline in pollinating insects, including bees, in Europe. It is estimated that 84% of European crop species depend on insect pollination to some extent.

The researchers analysed links between agriculture and pollinators using the ‘Driving forces – Pressures – State – Impact – Response’ (DPSIR) framework. They identified five major pressures on pollinators: land-use; agrochemicals; parasites/ diseases; competition between species (caused by humans) and climate change. Bees were the most affected by all of these pressures, apart from climate change, which had the greatest impact on butterflies.

EU land-use practices are driven most strongly by the CAP. Although environmental policies have recently become more integrated into the CAP, Agri-environment measures form only 8% of the total CAP budget to 2013; despite the influence of these schemes in supporting specific farming practices which protect the environment and maintain the countryside.

To boost pollinator numbers, the researchers call for an increase in the funding provided for agri-environment schemes under the CAP, for an increase in the areas of flower-rich natural grassland and croplands with leguminous plants and for a decrease in the use of agrochemicals, all of which would foster a greater diversity of organisms and landscapes, necessary for bee survival.

Orginal article: Science for Environment Policy

Original research: Kuldna, P., Peterson, K. Poltimäe, H. & Luig, J. (2009). An application of DPSIR framework to identify issues of pollinator loss. Ecological Economics. 69:32-42.

The BES ran an event at the British Science Festival in 2009, focused on bumblebees and the importance of providing a haven for pollinators in your garden. Find out more and see some of the press coverage we generated.

Speaking at the tenth annual Darwin Initiative lecture last night (see post below for further details), Hilary Benn announced that Professor Sir John Lawton, ex-President of the BES, has been appointed to chair the review of England’s wildlife network.

The review will explore if England’s collection of wildlife areas represents a coherent and robust ecological network that will be capable of responding to future pressures such as climate change. Commenting on his appointment, Professor Lawton said that “Climate change poses a major challenge for England’s wildlife, but it is by no means the only threat. We need to ensure that the existing protected-area network is fit for purpose, and if it isn’t, what we do about it.” The review will publish its findings in June 2010.

Often urban expansion occurs concomitantly with economic growth in developing countries, not to mention land use change including the conversion of forest to agricultural land. A new study in Landscape and Urban Planning suggests that expansion of Panama City and Colon, both of which are surrounded by richly biodiverse rainforests, could result in future biodiversity loss.

Increased urbanisation is anticipated in these cities after a planned expansion of the shipping canal, and it is likely that this will result in increased forest loss. This could be exacerbated by the rural population, 61 per cent of whom live below the poverty threshold, and presently have no alternative but to remove standing forest for agriculture and income purposes.

The researchers looked at potential socio-economic and biophysical correlates of biodiversity loss including population density and growth, road density and poverty levels, rainfall, forest age and land use. They found that population wealth was linked to conversion of land to urban areas, i.e. the more wealth the more conversion. The researchers also found that agriculture was expanding into mature forests.

The rainforests offer a wealth of ecosystem services including the provision of clean water, flood and landslide prevention through water capture not to mention the carbon storage and climate regulating influences. However if an ecosystem services approach is not applied to the forests appropriately, it is likely that, as affluence increases in the urban areas, the true value of the forests will be taken for granted. This could result in increased forest clearance for what is perceived as more valuable urban development projects.

The authors suggest that ecotourism and agroforestry could provide alternative less destructive economic opportunities. If alternatives are positively explored it could assist the rural population move above the poverty threshold without destroying the valuable forests which they, and we all depend upon.

Source: Rompré G, Robinson WD and Desrochers A (2008). Causes of habitat loss in a Neotropical landscape: The Panama Canal corridor. Landscape and Urban Planning. 87: 129-139.

The respiration of soil is a key function in the carbon cycle, moving carbon from the ground to the atmosphere.

Peatland across Northern Europe occupies somewhere in the region of 3.5 million km2 and holds one third of the world’s soil carbon. These areas are under pressure from increased agricultural activity, which accelerates the net loss of carbon dioxide. Theory and practice suggests that afforestation will result in net carbon uptake and reduce carbon loss to the atmosphere from soil respiration. Although soils are thought to act as a sink for carbon, land-use change such as agriculture alters the way that carbon dioxide is emitted.

Currently tree plantations are believed to be a worthwhile mitigation technique against climate change. However, in a research paper published in Soil Biology and Biochemistry, researchers found that previous agriculture on afforested land led to higher soil respiration than undisturbed areas, up to decades after afforestation.

At present, European legislation is placing an emphasis on the role of afforestation in combating climate change. This research suggests that further work is required into the effects of climate change on soil biodiversity and the subsequent effect on the carbon cycle.

BES members and readers of the blog are invited to discuss this article.