  |
|
|
 |
The vast majority of Tayside - stretching
from the mountains, hills and glens, through the fertile valleys
and straths to the carselands of the coastal plains and estuaries
- could be correctly classified as agricultural land’.
Totalling around 700,000 hectares, this entire area has been
influenced by man over thousands of years. From the earliest
forms of settled subsistence agriculture around 6,000 years
ago to the present day natural habitats have been moulded and
modified by the many people who have lived in this rich and
varied land.
|
|
The area covers the gamut of farm enterprises
seen in Scotland: from extensive upland sheep grazing units
on semi-natural grasslands all the way through to the highly
intensive vegetable and crop growing on the best quality lower
land. The Farmland Habitat Action Plans will address the cultivated
portion of this land - that which falls under cropping and
rotational grasslands; hill and mountain grazings are addressed
in the Upland section.
Accounting for just over 200,000 ha., arable land provides the patchwork of fields,
hedges, dykes, veteran trees and farm buildings we generally associate with land
under cultivation. Combinable crops (malting barley, winter wheat, oats and oilseed
rape) are the mainstay of the area’s agriculture. The majority of Tayside
farms still have a portion of their land down to rotational grassland, used either
for grazing sheep and cattle or producing hay or silage for winter feeding. This
crop in all its diverse forms - from semi-natural meadows to intensively harvested
silage cropping - covers a further 86,000 ha. of land. Other major crops include
potatoes (11,000 ha.), vegetables for human consumption (3,500 ha.) and over
1,500 ha of raspberries and strawberries - Tayside has traditionally been the
home of the soft fruit industry in Scotland.
Although the overall number of farm units has remained fairly constant there
has been a marked change in structure in recent years with the national trend
towards larger scale farming operations being offset by an increase in the number
of smaller hobby farms. A traditional patchwork of different crop types may still
prevail in much of Tayside, but the move towards more intensive management has
seen a decline in many habitat types and a wide range of species numbers. Changes
from hay to silage as the main means of conserving grass, the liming and fertilising
of “unimproved” grasslands and greater use of sprays and fertilisers
on cropped land have all reduced the diversity of plant species and with it the
habitat range for some animal species.
This trend has been encouraged by UK and EU farm policies which have directly
stimulated production whilst indirectly acting as a disincentive to maintain
biodiversity. A small change in emphasis has, however, seen the launch of several
agri-environmental schemes which have sought to protect and enhance habitats.
Farmers have proved keen to become involved in such projects and a large number
have come forward for the Environmentally Sensitive Area and the Rural Stewardship
Schemes; only the limited funds made available for the Schemes have caused many
of the projects to remain unfulfilled.
Managed and cultivated farmland in Tayside forms a very important and distinct
complex habitat of its own. It acts as a haven for some of the UK’s rarer
species - Brown hare, Skylark, Tree sparrow and Grey partridge, as well as locally
important species such as Lapwing, the Common frog and Barn owl. Worthwhile populations
of these and many other species still exist in farmland habitats across the area
- and it is the aim of the Habitat Action Plans to enhance and promote their
conservation. |
| FARMLAND 2ND TRANCHE |
|
| TAYSIDE BIODIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP - CORN BUNTING ACTION
PLAN |
|
|
|
| © Tayside
Biodiversity 05/08 :: SITE
MAP :: SITE
SEARCH :: |
 |
|
<%
While ((Repeat1__numRows <> 0) AND (NOT Download.EOF))
%>
<%
Repeat1__index=Repeat1__index+1
Repeat1__numRows=Repeat1__numRows-1
Download.MoveNext()
Wend
%>
|
<%
While ((Repeat1__numRows <> 0) AND (NOT Download.EOF))
%>
<%
Repeat1__index=Repeat1__index+1
Repeat1__numRows=Repeat1__numRows-1
Download.MoveNext()
Wend
%>
|
|
