Bringing back the birds: How to restore farmland biodiversity

In December 2024, the European Environment Agency reported that European biodiversity continues its race towards the bottom. One of the main causes is the intensification of agriculture which leaves little room for wildlife. Wild birds and insects that used to thrive on farmland are facing an acute housing crisis.

But the trend can be reversed, as shown by our PARTRIDGE project. It brought farmers, hunters and conservationists together in an unusual partnership that proved surprisingly productive. 

PARTRIDGE led to changes in five national agri-environmental schemes and set up lasting pilots and clusters across the North Sea Region. Its many spillover effects are now taking the impact to new level. 

But according to the project leader, Dr Francis Buner from the UK Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), the project's most important accomplishment is something else. "We built trust and cooperation among groups with strongly conflicting views. This is our biggest achievement," he says. 

Farmers participating in the project set aside at least 7% of their arable land for the benefit of the grey partridge. This iconic farmland bird is a so-called umbrella species because it requires cover and quality habitat all year round and needs a varied menu of insects, plant seeds and foliage depending on the age of the bird. This means that many other wild species will thrive in places where the partridges are able to make a living. 

At ten 500-hectare demonstration sites across the North Sea Region, 70 farmers and hunters created new habitat. Flower plots, made from a specially designed flower seed mix, and so-called beetle banks are two main components of the PARTRIDGE method, along with other measures.  

Beyond the farm walks, the partners made an outstanding effort to communicate their work. Their prolific output included over 500 articles, a constant stream of social media posts, and thousands of photos and videos. As a result, the project website garnered a whopping 100,000+ page visits. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the project strengthened its online communication further.  

The project also made its mark at multiple conferences, MEP Parliamentary intergroup meetings, the European Green Week, and online talks.  

On the visual side, the project shunned no opportunity to showcase their work. They engaged with artists to create eye-catching visuals and often used creative tools such as their partridge quiz and storymaps. They even produced a full-size partridge costume for special occasions! 

Perhaps not surprisingly, PARTRIDGE attracted much media attention including appearances on Dutch and German national TV and radio.

Demonstrating an impact on biodiversity in the course of a few years is difficult. Natural fluctuations might mask the results, and wildlife needs time to respond to changes. And yet, the demo sites showed clear improvements by project end. They showed significantly higher numbers and diversity of farmland indicator species than comparable farmland areas. 

Iconic farmland birds - such as yellowhammer, skylark, and grey partridge - had 30-70% more breeding territories in the demonstration sites compared to their reference sites. And the demo sites had higher numbers of hares, wintering seed-eating birds, insects and pollinator habitats. 

The project inspired other farmers, too. During the project, over 1,200 farmers across the North Sea Region had created 2,900 hectares of new habitat by planting the PARTRIDGE flower mix while 36 km of new beetle banks were built in the Netherlands alone. And since the project came to an end in 2023, hundreds of additional hectares of the PARTRIDGE mix have been planted across the North Sea Region, especially in England and Germany.

Another enduring project legacy is seven clusters enabling farmers and hunters to exchange and learn from each other.  

The project also brought its message home to policymakers across the North Sea Region. Its work directly contributes to implementing key EU policy such as the Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy, and the Pollinator Initiative.

Several cabinet ministers from different coutries as well as the European Commissioner for Agriculture joined the project's farm walks. Also, the partners produced four reports ( covering Flanders, the Netherlands, Scotland and England) and shared them with regional and national policymakers and lobbyists. Also, based on a large survey, they produced a report  on how to improve agri-environment scheme uptake and proisions.  

"We presented our key findings in a policy factsheet that we shared with national authorities and at our final policy conference in Brussels," says Francis. 

All these efforts paid off. Inspired by PARTRIDGE, England, Scotland, Flanders, Germany and the Netherlands have each integrated at least one of the main PARTRIDGE measures in their national agri-environmental schemes. 

As the partners worked together, something happened. Over time, they started enjoying each other's company so much that they became friends.

"Respect is the big word," states Francis Buner. "The leader must set the tone, steer the discussion and create a nice atmosphere. Everybody must feel happy to take part. You don’t have to agree on everything in order to work together fruitfully. We took great care to make our partner meetings social events."

To build a good dialogue, Francis finds three principles are key.

1. Try to see it their way.   
   "The first thing to do to make somebody feel better is to sit and listen so they feel understood. Hunters and farmers are pushed into a corner by society more and more. In our clusters and beyond we have given them a voice. We hear them out to understand their problems and try to make it better for them."
2. Try not to bring in subjective arguments. 
   "As scientists, we are trained to remain objective and stay away from emotional argumentation. This helps in fostering a constructive dialogue around controversial topics."
3. Accept a certain level of contention. 
   "Controlling the partridge's predators was one area where we did not succeed in creating a common line. We spent a lot of time explaining to each other why it is important or why we shouldn't do it. So everybody understood where everybody else was coming from. We did not solve it but we listened to each other and respected different views and opinions. We didn't judge each other on it. And we found a solution where those who wanted to control the predators could do this while others could refrain from it." 

We are very proud of our collaborative approach. On a broader scale, we showed that you can bring partners with fundamentally conflicting views together for a shared aim. 

The statements below showcase the great enthusiasm that the project created among everyone involved.

This is beautifully described in the story about the three-legged stools. Written by a mysterious author named Partridge, this is the only fairy tale ever to appear on the North Sea Blog and one of our most popular articles of all time.  

Curious to learn more? Feel free to contact the lead partner: 

Francis Buner, email fbuner@gwct.org.uk 

Paul Stephens, email pstephens@gwct.org.uk