It’s hard to imagine the British countryside without instantly envisioning a patchwork of fields draped over gently sloping hills. This familiar effect, which is the result of hedgerows used to segregate various fields and livestock enclosures, is a highly valued component of rural Britain; but its future is by no means guaranteed.
The hedgerow has been in decline over the last few centuries and although protection has been in place for a few years now, the threats to these very important wildlife havens is ever-present.
This article will examine the reasons for the decline of the hedgerow, and question whether we really need these hedgerows or are we just resisting progress and being overly sentimental by not wanting to see them destroyed. It will also look at the impacts and possible solutions to their demise.
A brief history of the hedgerow
Hedgerows have been a part of our countryside since the Bronze Age when humans began to establish settlements and clear woodland to create fields for crops and livestock. This process created the very first hedgerows, which were originally strips of woodland left in place as a means to mark out boundaries. From Roman times up to the mid-19th century new hedgerows were planted and became more like the hedgerows we recognise today, with a particularly large amount planted during the enclosures act of the 18th and 19th centuries. Judith’s Hedge in Cambridgeshire is the oldest known hedgerow in existence today and dates back over 900 years.
With Britain being the kind of country that’s forever looking for a fight, we soon after found ourselves embroiled in major wars; the Napoleonic Wars and the Second World War saw a besieged Britain looking inland for its food supply. Consequently, agriculture was intensified during these periods and many hedgerows were destroyed as fields were enlarged.
Since then, the further intensification of agriculture has seen a steady but alarming decline in the amount of hedgerows rambling around the countryside. In the mid 1990’s the problem was fully realised by the government who put in place measures to protect existing hedgerows and encourage the planting of new ones. The 1997 Hedgerow Regulations [1] set out criteria that would serve to identify ‘important’ hedgerows and make the removal of them a criminal offence if the criteria identified the hedgerow as such. Grants under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) were also made available to farmers for hedgerow planting and restoration.
Fourteen years on and the decline has slowed and hedgerow numbers have stabilised. However, many organisations feel that more can be done to protect them and that there are too many loopholes in the regulations. A recent report by the Campaign To Protect Rural England (CPRE) has highlighted such concerns [2]. An additional worry is that the problem has now shifted to one of neglect and damage rather than direct loss [3]. Plus, to compound the issue, there is also a fear that spending cuts may see a drastic reduction to the CSS grants.
What are the environmental benefits of a hedgerow?
Hedgerows today are made up of an array of different plants and trees, and range in size form a small thicket hedge to what are essentially thin strips of woodland.
Apart from defining the UK’s countryside, hedgerows also perform many other functions such as, “delineating land ownership; sub-dividing land into manageable units; containing stock; sheltering animals, crops, and buildings; controlling soil erosion; acting as visual screens or deadening noise”. [3]
In terms of the environment, hedgerows provide the habitat, shelter and hunting grounds for a vast array of different mammals and birds: 10 out of 18 proirity listed mammals* use the hedgerows either for food or as a corridor to enable them to move safely through the countryside, while 10 out of the 19 species of birds on the Farmland Bird Index (an indicator of the condition of farmland wildlife) rely on hedgerows as their primary form of habitat. [2]
*According to the UK Biodiversity Action Plan [4]
It’s no secret that Britain’s wildlife is under threat and part of the problem is the loss of habitat. What follows is a list that includes a tiny proportion of the 125 species of birds, mammals, invertebrates and amphibians that rely on hedgerows for one reason or another [5]: robins, yellowhammers, corn buntings, house sparrows, wrens, hazel dormice, bank voles, harvest mice, hedgehogs, stag beetles, bumble bees, purple emperor butterflies, brown hairstreak butterflies, carpet moths, adders, great crested newts, bats … you get the picture.
One particular benefit the hedgerow affords is that of giving shelter, food and habitat to pollinating insects. If these insects – which are already in decline – were to suffer any more, British agriculture could really feel the financial burden (as would the consumers). To highlight the point consider this: the British bee is currently experiencing alarming reductions in its population. There are many theories as to why this may be, but one suggestion is loss of habitat – possibly hedgerows? The estimated value of pollinating bees to farmers is £120-£200 million per year [6]. Imagine if they disappeared and we had to foot that bill – ouch.
Another service provided by hedgerows is that of flood control as they regulate the water during periods of heavy rainfall, while conversely, helping to conserve water during dry periods. They also prevent wind-borne soil erosion.
Finally, hedgerows also do their bit to prevent climate change: a new hedge can remove 600-900 kg of carbon from the atmosphere per year per kilometre, for up to 20 years. [2]
Why are they still at risk?
Although hedgerows are better protected now than they ever have been, the chances of them coming under attack are still quite high. A number of different factors can be attributed to hedgerow loss:
- Changes in farming methods – As farming has intensified and become increasingly mechanised, the need for small fields has diminished. It is much easier for a farmer to plough, seed and harvest a single large field than many small ones. Our leaning towards monoculture driven by our hunger (pardon the pun) for cheaper food has also prompted farmers to do away with mixed agriculture and turn all of their land to one or two crops.
- Cost - For a landowner to maintain a hedgerow, there is significant cost involved, both in time and money. If being used as a barrier for livestock then the hedge must be constantly inspected for holes and any necessary repairs undertaken. If being used as a boundary the hedgerow must be regularly cut back, also at a cost.
- Development - The drive to increase the UK’s housing stock is also having and affect. When any land gets concreted over for development, it has an environmental impact, often including the loss of hedgerows. There are no regulations to protect hedgerows from development such as this.
- Replacement - If being used as a barrier, the hedgerow has increasingly been replaced by less costly alternatives such as wire fences.
What can be done to save them?
First and foremost, any cuts to the Countryside Stewardship Scheme must be fought. While they may not provide the solution, the problem will be a lot worse if farmers have no incentive to maintain their expensive hedgerows.
The current regulations need to be updated. Although they do require that a local authority be notified if a hedgerow of over 20 metres is to be removed, garden hedgerows and those associated with built developments are exempt from the regulations [1]. As well as these exemptions, a local authority may only refuse the removal of a hedgerow if it is classed as important. Basically, an important hedgerow is one that is over 20 metres longs, 30 years old, is historically significant and must support certain species of plants and animals. The criteria for assessing important hedgerows is complicated and needs to be simplified, simultaneously empowering local authorities to have more say in the removal of hedgerows.
Of course we can take matters into our own hands. Now, I’m not suggesting camping out in threatened hedges and tying ourselves to trees; more something like growing your own. If you have a bit of land to spare, try planting your own hedgerow. It doesn’t have to be very big and you can find companies that will offer a variety of ‘ready to go’ hedgerows that contain a good mix of plants. For example, a Royal Horticultural Society approved native hedgerow will cost you about £40 for a 10 metre hedge. Not only will you be helping to save our native wildlife, you will also be doing your bit to remove carbon from the atmosphere and prevent climate change.
In summary then…
There are many reasons to want to conserve the hedgerows of the British Isles. They may be borne of a love of wildlife, a concern over pollinating insects, fear climate change or simply a desire to protect the distinctive patchwork effect of our countryside. Although the destruction has slowed, the CPRE report has highlighted that the hedgerow is still in danger. Spending cuts could also heighten this danger and in the very near future we could be back to having to fight for the conservation of our hedgerows.
If you like to take a cream tea while watching the local village cricket team or perhaps enjoy a pint of bitter down at the local pub with a good plate of fish and chips while moaning about the weather, then do spare a thought for the hedgerow. It’s as quintessentially British as anything else one might care to mention and we’ll miss them if they disappear, in more ways than one.
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References
[1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/1160/contents/made
[2] CPRE (2010) England’s Hedgerows: Don’t Cut Them Out. Available at http://www.cpre.org.uk/news/view/698
[5] http://www.hedgelink.org.uk/hedgelink/wildlife-and-hedgerows.htm
[6] Farming Link (2009) Honeybees in Crisis. Defra. http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/contact/link/articles/0904/honeybees.htm
