Barn Owls, Church Owls, even Ghost Owls, are all names for this beautiful farmland bird

In 2024, our friends at Summerdown were lucky enough to fledge two barn owl chicks from the boxes in their farm buildings.   

Around May every year, the nest boxes are checked by a licensed bird ringer with a pole camera to check the boxes. If they discover eggs, they return a few weeks later to ring the birds so they can be monitored. This doesn’t harm the birds.

The Barn Owls at Summerdown feed on voles found in the field margins around their peppermint fields. These field margins have been carefully managed for many years to create thriving habitats for insects and worms that the voles like to eat, which then in turn attract the Barn Owls.  

The marvellous peppermint is made into a fabulous range of herbal teas that are Fair to Nature certified.

The presence of Barn Owls at Summerdown is testament to all the hard work of the team to create habitats and space for nature on their farm. 

Where to see them:  Look out for this graceful bird flying low and silently over fields and hedgerows at dawn and dusk. 

Quick-fire facts:

Breeds: Nests in an enclosed space in a barn or nest box or hollows in trees. 

Eats: Small mammals such as voles, mice and shrews.  Barn owls depend on rough grassland for the prey they need. 

Status:  Green. Between 1995 and 2022 the UK population has increased by 208% after significant declines in earlier decades. (source: BTO) 

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We’re excited to announce a new partnership with Tesco, focused on restoring habitats and creating safe havens for Turtle Doves and other farmland wildlife species across East Anglia.  

Crucial action to deliver the changes nature needs  

East Anglia is one of Tesco’s key sourcing regions and we’re aiming to engage 300 farmers and landowners, supporting them to create 1800+ hectares of wildlife-friendly habitats. And it’s not just Turtle Doves that will benefit, as the work is also supported by the RSPB’s Fair to Nature scheme, who will be supporting with habitat advice which aims to also support other at-risk farmland birds such as Lapwings and Stone Curlews, as well as boost pollinator and insect numbers.  

Welcoming the partnership, RSPB Director of Conservation Katie-Jo Luxton said: “In our lifetimes, almost half of our farmland birds, mammals, amphibians, insects and invertebrates have disappeared, along with 97% of our wildflower meadows. Thankfully, dedicated nature-friendly farmers and conservationists are already taking action to bring habitats and wildlife back across the UK, but support for their actions from across the supply chain – from consumers to supermarkets – will be crucial if we are to deliver at the scale nature needs.   

“We know we can’t reverse the tide for nature without farmers, and we’re looking forward to working together with Tesco, their suppliers and farmers, and community groups to help wildlife flourish in our countryside once more.”   

Tesco Chief Commercial Officer Ashwin Prasad, said: “The UK food industry relies on healthy soils, clean water supplies, and abundant biodiversity, so it’s vital we play our part in protecting and restoring nature in our supply chain, including in East Anglia, a key sourcing region for much of our UK-grown fresh produce.    

“Our farmers and suppliers in East Anglia want to do as much as they can to help protect and restore nature in the area, so we’re delighted to be working in partnership with the RSPB on such a crucial project.”  

Turtle Doves set to benefit from a new farming partnership  

As Christmas approaches, you might hear more about Turtle Doves — ironically, not because you’re likely to spot one, but thanks to the popular carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. However, these beloved stars of the season need our help.  

Turtle Doves are long-distance migrants that winter in Africa, flying back to the UK in the spring to breed. Yet between 1967 and 2022 Turtle Doves suffered a 99% decline in the UK breeding population. It’s the most extreme decline of any bird species in the UK, with the birds hit hard by unsustainable hunting in south-west Europe, and a lack of suitable food and habitats when they arrive in the UK.   

Food and habitat for at-risk birds  

Thankfully, there is evidence the tide is turning. With a hunting ban in place in western Europe since 2021, that population has already increased by 25%. Operation Turtle Dove, a UK partnership, which includes the RSPB, is working hard to improve breeding habitat and food availability for the birds when they arrive back here in the spring.  

Our new partnership with Tesco will provide a welcome boost to these efforts. We’re working together to provide dedicated conservation and wildlife habitat advisory support to farmers and landowners in East Anglia. Expert advisors will use RSPB Fair to Nature’s framework to support farmers in creating and enhancing spaces for nature such as flower-rich field margins, planting wildlife-friendly hedgerows and adding ponds. We can help farmers provide Turtle Doves with the food and shelter they need to breed successfully… effectively getting the UK landscape ‘Turtle Dove Ready’. 

The Big Give for Turtle Doves 3-10 December  

You can also help Turtle Doves by donating through the Big Give between 3 and 10 December. Throughout that week, all donations will be doubled. So for every £10 you donate, we’ll receive £20 to help the UK Turtle Dove breeding population recover.   

All donations will go direct to the RSPB’s Operation Turtle Dove: partners, farmers and landowners working together to provide Turtle Doves with the habitat and food they need in the UK. 

At Hope Farm, the RSPB has been working for nearly 25 years to farm in a way that works with nature, helps tackle the climate crisis, and grows good food.

Wildlife needs healthy and diverse habitats to thrive and at the same time farming needs healthy wildlife to secure food production. Because Hope Farm is an RSPB Fair to Nature certified farm, it follows the science-backed standard and ensures at least 10% of the farmed area is working for nature through various habitats.  

Georgie Bray, RSPB Hope Farm Manager says, “What’s special about Hope Farm is the audible sound of nature which is now thriving on the farm. Butterflies have increased by 400% and breeding birds by around 175%.  These stats are incredible, but they don’t quite capture the literal buzz around the place”.  

Fat Bird of the Barley

Corn Buntings, endearingly termed The Fat Bird of the Barley, used to be a reasonably common bird in the English countryside. They are a plain and dumpy brown bird, evolved to thrive in a slightly scruffy cropped habitat. They are well adapted to nesting in cereal crops and feeding on the fat heads of seed that would either be ready to harvest or left behind after harvest and overwinter.  

In the last 60 years, Corn Buntings have declined by 83%, driven largely by changes in farming.   

Being a Fair to Nature certified farm, Hope Farm’s approach supports red-listed species such as the Corn Bunting.  Eight hectares of wildflower habitats create a network across our farm for insects to thrive. Hedgerows are managed to deliver an abundance of insect food with taller scruffy bits serving as potential territory-holding beacons.  

YQ wheat 

Growing YQ wheat is an important part of the diverse crop rotation on the farm. It is a crop that really suits farming with nature in mind because it is more resilient to pests and needs less inputs. 

In 2024, Hope Farm hosted at least four Corn Bunting territories on the farm, singing from the hedgerows and in our crops. Recently there have been overwintering flocks, including well over a hundred Corn Bunting, and several hundred Linnets using a cover crop, a special crop sown to protect the soil from erosion and to provide food and shelter for insects and birds.  

Baking for Nature

We are delighted to announce that Hope Farm’s YQ wheat flour is now available to buy from Hodmedod’s. You will be able to see the RSPB Fair to Nature logo on the pack- meaning this product came from this RSPB Fair to Nature certified farm.   

YQ wheat flour has great texture and flavour, and is suitable for pastry, cakes, and sourdough breads. But don’t just take our word for it – get your hands on a bag and get baking for nature! 

Image credits: rspb-images.com

How to embed regen principles into global supply-chains was the question posed in one of the talks at this year’s Groundswell Regenerative Agriculture Festival.

Brands have a role to play in driving consumer preference for ‘regen’ products

Dorothy Shaver from Unilever talked about how their goal of connecting high quality ingredients to the way in which they are grown is key.  Their strategy is to tell stories that engage and excite, leading to consumers asking and wanting more of these products. 

Dorothy went on to talk about Unilever’s aim for a movement of shoppers asking for products grown in a way that is good for the environment and nature, where other businesses follow and create broader change.

More voices are calling for action on nature

At the RSPB, this is something we have been calling for years.  It’s clear from this year’s Groundswell festival that the voices from across the food supply-chain understand the need to take action and are starting to do so. 

For significant biodiversity gains to be part of regenerative farming, good quality habitats for nature are key and must be integrated into the regen principles.

The RSPB’s science shows that by creating space for nature through a range of high-quality habitats, it’s possible to restore nature.

RSPB Fair to Nature is the only UK certification scheme with a focus on biodiversity and reversing nature loss. Run by the RSPB, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, and based on sound scientific evidence, it is designed to deliver demonstrable biodiversity benefits on certified farms and provide food businesses with the means to act on wildlife declines. 

Please get in touch to discuss how we can support restoring nature within your supply-chain.

Image credits: ‘Field Mouse in wheat’ and ‘Brown Hare running along track’ – rspb-images.com; Groundswell sign – Shelley Eden/RSPB

An opinion piece by Mark Varney, Head of RSPB Fair to Nature

The growing appetite for regenerative agriculture throughout the supply chain has been palpable in recent months. There is no denying that attitudes towards food production and consumer choices are shifting. There is a groundswell of interest in how our food is produced and an ever-growing number of voices calling for a more sustainable approach to food production.  

In light of the growing awareness and urgency surrounding the nature and climate emergency, many businesses large and small are starting to focus on sustainability and environmental practices in their supply chains. While these initiatives promise to have a positive impact on the planet, tackling challenges such as water scarcity and deteriorating soil quality, so far there has been an absence of true recognition for the food industry’s very life support system: nature.  

Nature loss and climate change pose significant risks to our long-term food supply. In England, the Government’s new green farming schemes are paying farmers to implement nature positive and climate-friendly actions on farms. This sets a positive direction of travel and recognises nature’s role in underpinning farm businesses and future food security.

Yet the rapid loss of nature here in the UK is visible and worrying In our lifetimes, almost half of our farmland birds, mammals, amphibians, insects and invertebrates have disappeared, along with 97% of our wildflower meadows.

Against this backdrop of alarming wildlife decline, consumers are hungry for change, and fast. The food and farming system has an undeniable role to play in bringing nature back across the UK, and we also have the most to lose if we fail to act with urgency.

Recent research undertaken by Ipsos [1] demonstrates that the public are increasingly aware of the loss of nature and they expect the food industry to play a leading role in addressing it. Preserving and enhancing wildlife was what respondents said they wanted farmers to prioritise out of a choice of sustainability actions [2].

The food industry has a responsibility to enact the change that consumers so clearly want to see, and while this is coupled with a genuine desire from many people across the food industry to do better, too many are overlooking what is critical; good quality habitats. Habitats such as seed-rich crop areas, hedgerows and wildflower strips have been scientifically proven to reverse wildlife declines, and these are tangible actions that shoppers can relate to.

We must ensure that nature underpins our sustainability efforts alongside climate action and, crucially, end the confusion around what products labelled as eco, regenerative and sustainable actually means. The alternative, as we are seeing playing out already in the sector, is “climate tunnel vision” – a risk we cannot afford to take amidst the joint nature and climate emergency.

As a proven approach to restoring the balance of nature in the food sector, the ground-breaking RSPB Fair to Nature food and farming certification scheme and its report, Without Nature There is no Food, provides the methodology to help tackle the loss of UK biodiversity and the impact that could have on food production.  

RSPB Fair to Nature is the only UK certification scheme with a focus on biodiversity and reversing nature loss. Run by the RSPB, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, and based on sound scientific evidence, it is designed to deliver demonstrable biodiversity benefits on certified farms and provide food businesses with the means to act on wildlife declines. 

Crucially, with labelling a key lever to ensuring consumers can feel confident in the products they’re buying, the trusted presence of the corresponding on-pack Fair to Nature logo also enables brands to harness consumers’ buying power.   

As the Without Nature There is no Food report sets out, making use of all the tools available, from government funding to on-pack labelling, will be key if we are to help deliver the transformation that is urgently needed within the food and farming sector. Now is the time to harness the increased public appetite for change and work together to deliver space for nature on farms.

Originally published in the July 2024 edition of FMCG CEO magazine.

References:

[1] On behalf of the RSPB, Ipsos surveyed a representative sample of 2,250 adults aged 16-75 across the UK via the online omnibus between the 7th and 8^th of December 2023.

[2] In the research undertaken in December, halting biodiversity loss was among the top three environmental impacts of agriculture UK adults want to see addressed on farms; 37% selected this, along with 39% choosing use of environmentally harmful pesticides, and 36% choosing water pollution

Sunday the 5th of May was Dawn Chorus Day, and it so happened that the team had the pleasure of being on farm to listen to the loud and rousing celebration of the start of a spring day. Head of RSPB Fair to Nature, Mark Varney, tells us why it’s important to protect the dawn chorus.

This farm is farmed with nature in mind, and habitats are nurtured for nature to thrive.  There were Skylarks in abundance and their tuneful song was joined by that of Corn Bunting (jangling keys) and Yellowhammer (a-little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese). It brought back vivid memories of when I used to run around the farms near where I grew up in South Devon and hear amazing birds and see beautiful butterflies.

These sounds are a stark contrast to the state of nature generally in the UK.  As the most recent State of Nature report shows, our wildlife has declined and is continuing to decline. The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, so it’s no wonder that farms that create space for nature are such special places; the sound almost deafening in comparison to what we hear everyday. There are many drivers of this loss, the most significant being climate change and changes to farming methods over the past decades that has resulted in so much habitat loss.    

With the recent warning from the UN’s climate chief that we have two years to take action to avert far worse climate change, we do not have time to waste. And it’s vital that we protect and restore nature whilst we work to tackle the climate crisis – the two are inextricably linked.  Nature is a key ally in our fight against climate change and holds the solutions to many of the adaptation challenges we face. Working with nature is a real win win.

In our recent report, Without Nature There is no Food, the solution to restoring the balance of nature in farming is outlined. It demonstrates how, if every farm was supported to make 10% of land available for good quality wildlife habitat, we could together restore and protect wildlife on farms and also ensure that the essential services nature provides are there for us in the future.

RSPB Fair to Nature licensee, Summerdown, farm with nature at the heart of everything they do:  

 “The blackbirds start singing as soon as it’s getting light, and it lasts for at least an hour every day.  We know we have a lot of wildlife on the farm because of the work we have done over the years becoming an RSPB Fair to Nature certified farm and creating space for nature. A healthy and loud dawn chorus underlines that. During the day the birdsong continues with Skylarks and Lapwings singing along with the song and chatter from many hedgerow dwellers, [like Linnets, Yellowhammers and Tree Sparrows]”, Ian Margetts, Master of Mint at Summerdown

As a proven approach to delivering this in practice, RSPB Fair to Nature provides food businesses with the means to act on wildlife declines, empowers and supports farmers with a viable way of protecting and restoring nature on their farms, and with the benefit of the corresponding on-pack branding, harnesses consumers’ buying power to deliver the transformative change needed in our food and farming system.  

And let’s not forget the benefits of nature, and birdsong specifically, for individuals. It’s not always easy to seek out the things that ground us.  But nature always does. Increasing evidence shows that being in nature really does have the power to boost our health, happiness and wellbeing. Nine out of ten people enjoy hearing birdsong and believe it benefits their mental health. Our society needs it.  We need it.  

And a certification scheme like RSPB Fair to Nature has the power to connect the concern about climate change and nature loss that we have seen from shoppers, they desire to take action.   

We have the power to take action. And, to businesses ready to be leaders for nature, this is an opportunity.