Without nature, there is no food

The new Without nature, there is no food report from RSPB Fair to Nature, published in January 2024, shows how nature underpins food and farming, and how the RSPB Fair to Nature certification can help you make the right choices when buying food. 

As much as 70% of the UK is farmed. That means that the way we produce food is a huge opportunity to support and enhance nature, whilst also protecting food systems. Unfortunately, many farmland species are under threat from intensive farming. The abundance of farmland birds has fallen dramatically, with populations of 19 species on average 60% lower than those in 1970. But healthy ecosystems underpin our ability to produce food. We can’t afford to ignore nature anymore.  

It’s clear we need farming businesses to work alongside nature. Our wildlife and habitats are at breaking point. A staggering 15% of UK species are threatened with extinction. Pollinating insects play a critical role in the production of food, but they have decreased by an average of 18% since 1970. In addition, only 5% of land in the UK is both protected, and effectively managed, for nature. 

Not only are pollinators, such as bumblebees and hoverflies, important for crops, other wildlife, such as birds, can help with pest management, by eating harmful insects, or feeding them to their chicks. 

Consumers know this too. They’re increasingly keen to know that the products they buy have been produced with nature in mind. RSPB/Ipsos research, conducted in 2023, showed that more than half (56%) of adults want UK farmers to adopt farming practices that preserve and enhance the environment and nature. What’s more, 62% use certification labels to help choose what to buy. That’s where RSPB Fair to Nature comes in. 

The RSPB Fair to Nature Mark is a certification on food and drink. It’s the only certification in the UK that focuses on protecting farmland biodiversity.  

When they sign up to the RSPB Fair to Nature Mark, brands commit to sourcing their ingredients from certified farms. These farms must reach a rigorous set of criteria, including ensuring that 10% of their land includes good-quality wildlife habitat. They also commit to taking care of flower-rich habitats, managing field boundaries to enable wildlife to flourish, encouraging seed-rich habitats, and looking after wet areas such as ponds, as these are often the best areas for wildlife. 

This all means when you buy an RSPB Fair to Nature certified product, you know it was produced in a wildlife-friendly way. 

Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire is an RSPB Fair to Nature-certified working farm that carries out its operations with nature in mind. The RSPB bought the farm in 2000, with the aim of demonstrating how you can make space for wildlife and run a profitable farm business too. 

We have annual monitoring to measure the change in our breeding farmland birds (up 177%), winter farmland birds (up 1326%) and butterflies (up 589%) since we purchased the farm over 20 years ago.  

In January 2001, we counted just 534 individual birds from 30 species. In the winter of 2022–2023, there were more than 6,500 birds from 52 species, with many of the increases in our farmland birds being red-listed.   

These massive wildlife successes sit alongside the fact that it’s a successful, resilient working farm: and its products carry the Fair to Nature Mark. 

So, keep a look out for the RSPB Fair to Nature Mark. It shows that the brand is committed to protecting and restoring nature and supports UK farming businesses too. 

Read the report.