Alistair Robb won the Operation Lapwing award for Scotland in 2005, after having raised the Lapwing population on his farm from 0 to 63 pairs

Farming, Land Use and Nature

How can farmers balance the needs of food production and the environment?

We're working on a wide range of issues, from pesticides and GM crops to land-use change and bioenergy, to provide ideas to help answer this question.

Landscape-scale conservation

Wetland grasses
A landscape-scale approach is needed to reverse the degradation and fragmentation of priority habitats.
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Saving valuable habitats

Loch a Chnuic, Abernethy RSPB reserve, Speyside, Scotland, August 2007

Uplands

The UK's uplands landscape we see today is the product of past and current land management activities.
RSPB Forsinard Flows; view from visitor trail, including snow-capped Ben Griam, Highland, Scotland

Peatlands

Peatlands are some of the UK's most valuable habitats – damp, colourful wetlands that support an array of wildlife.

Tackling climate change

Pink footed geese Anser brachyrhyncus, in flight past wind turbines, Near Diepholz, Lower Saxony, Germany,
The changing climate is a major threat to the natural world and one of the key challenges facing agriculture.
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Food and farming

RSPB Lake Vyrnwy Nature Reserve

Balancing food and the environment

Agriculture in the UK will need to rise to the many challenges it faces, to move toward a sustainable future vision.
Harvest mouse Micromys minutus, adult on wheat showing farmland habitat, Hertfordshire

Food and the choices we make

Food is a vital part of all our lives. Not only do we need it for physical sustenance, it also plays a vital social role
Small scale trials of potential solutions to farmland bird decline before use in larger scale research trials or agri-environment scheme options, RSPB Hope Farm, Cambridgeshire

Food security

What is food security? Globally, enough food is produced to feed everyone, yet around 1 in 8 people are undernourished.
Insect on dewy ears of barley, Yorkshire

GMO and other biotechnology

Explore the RSPB's views on GM foods, biotechnology and the policies that govern them.

Pesticides and fertilisers

Grain being spread from tractor at feeding site for Common or Eurasian crane Grus grus, during autumn migration period, near Gunz

Agricultural technologies & chemical inputs have made UK agriculture some of the most productive in the world. We believe that the pesticides and nutrients must be used with care, in a targeted way, and with respect to the environment. 

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