MY LATE uncle was a sheep farmer in north Wales and I have happy memories of visiting his farm in Snowdonia as a child. I wasn鈥檛 much interested in farming back then, but these days I find it fascinating. Producing enough food to feed a growing global population is one of the most destructive activities we impose on the natural world, a massive driver of climate change and a major threat to biodiversity.
鈥淏iodiversity is, on average, faring very badly indeed,鈥� says Andrew Bamford at the University of Cambridge. 鈥淎nd while other drivers of biodiversity鈥檚 decline often attract more attention, the greatest source of threat to the natural world is, and for a long time will remain, the prosaic but pervasive challenge of how to meet rising human demand for food.鈥�
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Turning natural habitat into farmland and further degradation of existing farmland by intensification is by far the biggest threat to biodiversity, says Bamford, dwarfing the impacts of invasive species, climate change and pollution. The farming and food sector is also responsible for of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. But we have to eat.
Almost everyone agrees that the way we meet that demand has to change for the sake of nature and humanity, but there is a fractious debate about how, encapsulated by two opposing visions. One, known as land sparing, involves extreme yield increases on smaller areas of land, freeing up space for nature. The other, land sharing, advocates nature-friendly farming on larger plots, with biodiversity as part of the system.
Last month, I wrote approvingly about a type of dairy farming called 鈥渃ow with calf鈥� as practised by The Ethical Dairy in Scotland. This leans towards land sharing, and can be more ethical than and almost as productive as standard farming. But Bamford says large-scale land sharing ultimately lowers yields and risks backfiring by swallowing ever more land. I still approve of The Ethical Dairy, but it seems it won鈥檛 scale up.
I experienced this tension for myself during a recent visit to , the national park in north Wales formerly known as Snowdonia. The trip was , which is funding an ecological restoration project in Eryri that aims to clean up Llyn Tegid (Lake Bala in English). Its waters are badly polluted with agricultural phosphates.
We visited a farm run by Cemlyn Thomas that overlooks the lake. He is a fifth-generation dairy, pig and sheep farmer who, like many of his peers, is keen to make the farm more nature-friendly. He is participating in the restoration project, creating a series of ponds to intercept runoff and stop it going straight into the river Dee and on to Llyn Tegid, as well as reviving a that is good for carbon sequestration and habitat diversity and connectivity.
While talking to Thomas, I made a faux pas by uttering a taboo word: rewilding. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 use 鈥榬ewilding鈥�,鈥� says Rhys Owen at Eryri National Park, who is working with (and paying grants to) farmers who contribute to the project. 鈥淲e say 鈥榙e-intensifying鈥�. It鈥檚 very emotive. If you say rewilding, they bring the shotgun out.鈥� I asked why. 鈥淧eople are intimidated by it. It鈥檚 the perception that generations of hard toil and cost will go to rack and ruin. But the concept of more biodiversity, that鈥檚 not the issue.鈥�
Thomas is also not keen on the word 鈥渄e-intensifying鈥�, but that is what he is doing, gradually destocking the farm and making changes to how he manages the land to give nature more space.
Getting farmers like him on board is crucial. They have to make a living, which is a challenge, and are generally conservative in their outlook. 鈥淵ou bring in rewilding and they just switch off,鈥� says Owen鈥檚 colleague Dion Roberts.
Thomas is a reluctant convert, but says he was motivated in part by summers getting earlier, drier and longer, affecting his sheep farming. He says many of his peers are coming round to the same point of view.
A few weeks later, I attended a dedicated to continuing the work of conservation biologist Georgina Mace, where Bamford laid out the cases for land sharing and land sparing. He came down firmly in favour of the latter as the only feasible way to feed 10 billion people and leave enough room for nature. 鈥淲ildlife-friendly farming methods that lower yields risk causing damage to most wild species,鈥� he said. But he stressed the need to let farmers take the lead. 鈥淎sk the farmers what they want,鈥� he said.
The future of wildlife and humanity depends on which path they choose. As Charles Godfray, director of the Oxford Martin School, has said: 鈥淚f we fail on food, we fail on everything.鈥� Just don鈥檛 mention the R word.
What I鈥檓 reading
Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway.
What I鈥檓 watching
Yellowjackets on Paramount Plus, a dark Lord of the Flies-esque drama.
What I鈥檓 working on
A daunting trip to the desert of Saudi Arabia.
Graham Lawton is a staff writer at New Scientist and author of Mustn鈥檛 Grumble: The surprising science of everyday ailments. You can follow him @grahamlawton
