Farming

Image for FarmingNot currently available on BBC iPlayer

Episode 1 of 3

Duration: 30 minutes

Naturalist Chris Packham presents a hard-hitting personal take on what's going wrong - and sometimes right - with our precious wildlife and its conservation. In this episode, he looks at the state of wildlife on farms and finds many key species in decline. He follows a farmer who is giving up on government nature schemes to make more money from cash crops. He finds others committed to wildlife friendly farming but there remain big concerns that we are failing the nation's wildlife.

More episodes

See all episodes from The Truth about Wildlife

  • CHRIS PACKHAM

    CHRIS PACKHAM

    Presenter Chris Packham provides his personal take on contemporary wildlife conservation.

    Photo credit - Scott Tibbles.

  • THE TRUTH ABOUT WILDLIFE - FARMLAND

    Naturalist Chris Packham presents a personal look at what is going wrong and sometimes right with wildlife conservation in England.

    Despite millions of pounds of public money being spent, many key habitats in iconic areas such as Dartmoor and the New Forest are in decline and some species are facing extinction.

    Chris travels across the South and West of England to question and challenge those most closely involved in conservation as to whether what they are doing is working.

    In the first of three programmes, Chris looks at farmland which has a crucial role in sustaining England's wildlife.

    He is dismayed to find a farmer ploughing up wildlife-friendly field margins to plant wheat because there is more money in the crop than in wildlife grants.

    Chris asks why, despite millions spent on grants for wildlife-friendly farming, the decline continues.

    He says more needs to be done to support farmers who play a vital role in protecting our wildlife.

  • Conserving the grey partridge

    Conserving the grey partridge

    For more information on restoring the grey partridge there is a free conservation guide available by phoning The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust on 01425 651060 or by visiting their website below.

    The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust: Conserving the grey partridge

  • Grey partridge makes comeback on farm land

    Grey partridge makes comeback on farm land

    The grey partridge was once plentiful but numbers have dropped dramatically since the 1950s as a result of intensive farming and the use of pesticides.

    Since the 1990s some farmers have taken advantage of EU and government grants to take small areas of land out of production to help the bird.

    Naturalist Chris Packham visited the Duke of Norfolk's Sussex estate, where 12% of farm land has been sacrificed to help the grey partridge - with impressive results.

    BBC News: Grey partridge makes comeback on farm land

Credits

Presenter
Chris Packham
Producer
Jenny Craddock
Executive Producer
Simon Willis

Broadcasts

British Birds

Blue tit

Discover top tips on topics like what to feed your garden birds and much more.

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.