Project helps rebuild farmlands

The tree sparrow will benefit from the RSPB project

A project by a leading wildlife organisation which is set to bring £7m in farming grants to Cumbria has been praised by the government.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) set up the Cumbria Lowland Farmland Bird project to encourage the creation of wildlife habitats.

Farmers have been helped to apply for grants to carry out the work.

The initiative will benefit declining farmland birds, such as the lapwing, tree sparrow and grey partridge.

The project was set up in November 2001 after the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.

Since then, project officer Will Cleasby has worked with hundreds of farmers in the north and west of the county, helping them apply for grants from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Conservation work

Mr Cleasby's farm near Penrith lost all its livestock in the foot-and-mouth outbreak, and he has helped other farmers recover from the impact and apply for grant aid.

As a result of the project, conservation work has been carried out on more than 140 hectares of arable farmland, which will help tree sparrows and other farmland birds.

More than 20 hectares of wet grassland habitat has also been created as part of a special project, which will help birds such as yellow wagtail and redshank.

Numbers of farmland birds, like the grey partridge, have been declining

Mr Cleasby said: "With around 2,000 farmers in Cumbria losing livestock from foot-and-mouth, there was a big economic, social and environmental mountain to climb in the aftermath.

"Many farmers took the opportunity to move away from intensive farming and this project has helped by giving them practical advice, assisting them in applying to agri-environment schemes, and equipping them with new skills."

Nature Conservation Minister Ben Bradshaw praised the RSPB initiative.

He said: "Farming has a huge part to play in maintaining the beauty of our landscapes and protecting our wildlife.

"The success of this project benefits not just the farmland concerned and its wildlife, but the wider environment as well."