Farmers urged to see importance of preserving native bird species

BIRDWATCH Ireland is urging farmers to view maintaining native bird species as a core part of the economic, social and environmental sustainability of rural Ireland.

New figures from BirdWatch Ireland and BirdLife Europe reveal that farmland bird populations in Ireland and across Europe are at their lowest levels since records began.

Conservationists say the results prove the need for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) so that it rewards and encourages farmers who put conservation measures in place on their land.