Trees grown for fuel can give a boost to songbirds
By David Brown, Agriculture Editor
GROWING trees as power station fuel would provide a boost for skylarks and many other countryside birds which have declined due to modern farming methods, say conservationists.
Wagtails, pipits, warblers, reed buntings, tits and finches would all benefit if more farmers and landowners planted coppices of willow or poplar for fuel, delegates at a London conference on alternative energy will be told today.
The conference organised by the Department of Trade and Industry's advisory unit for renewable sources of energy, will also be told that coppices provide good cover for pheasant and partridge and prospects for extra income from shooting parties.
Wildlife benefits of coppices, which can be harvested and replanted to provide continuing sources of "green" fuel, have been assessed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Game Conservancy Trust at Fordingbridge, Hants, Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups.
They found that young trees attracted a host of birds in the spring and that many songbirds used them as a winter haven and feeding ground.
Headlands and rides giving access to the coppices could also provide grasses and wild plants to support butterflies and insects, some of which helped to control tree pests without need for chemical sprays. Rufus Sage, the Game Conservancy's coppice expert, said yesterday: "Coppices are probably better for wildlife than any other crops grown in rows.
"Very little chemical pesticides are used by growers and the trees provide a wide physical diversity of habitat for the birds.
"We have found that pheasants like willow coppices while partridges prefer the more open spaces in poplar plantations."
Coppices for fuel are still very much a minority crop in Britain. While growers can earn about £130-160 an acre, farmers - who benefit from a range of EU subsidies - earn three times as much by growing cereals.
"Farmers can earn a good living from coppicing but, under existing policies, this is not as attractive as other crops," Mr Sage said.
Only about 700 acres of coppice are grown commercially in Britain but efforts are being made to multiply that 10-fold under Government-backed policies to encourage the use of non-fossil fuels .
The aim is to feed electricity generated from wood into the national grid.
Barnaby Briggs, RSPB energy policy officer, said: "Coppices would help our most threatened species, including song thrushes and reed buntings, which have declined dramatically.
"But, more importantly, they would encourage the production of energy from non-pollutant fuel and that would have wider benefits for wildlife and people."
