Save hedgerows, Nick Brown urged

6 March 2000



Save hedgerows, Nick Brown urged

CONSERVATION groups are writing to farm minister Nick Brown to protest at EU anti-fraud rulings which could decimate hedgerows.

The Council for the Protection of Rural England, the RSPB, the National Trust and Friends of the Earth are demanding a postponement of the new rule.

The EU has said that arable crop payments will be affected if hedges and other boundaries exceed 2m. This is in a bid to ensure the area under cultivation is not smaller than claimed.

But conservationists say half of Britains hedgerows, which provide a vital haven for many plants and animals, face devastation.

The Times reports that some farmers have already started hacking back hedges to safeguard subsidies.

Last month, Mr Brown signalled that the government may take a flexible line on the issue. He said the department of agriculture had no intention of destroying valuable habitats.

• MAFF to avoid threat to hedgerows?, FWi, 18 February, 2000

• Stewardship aid to be announced, FWi, 14 February, 2000
• EU hedgerow ruling squeezes wildlife, FWi, 08 December, 1999
• The Times 06/03/2000 page 8