The return of the countryside
September 2, 2004
If you want an illustration of the changing face of European agricultural policy, take a trip to Otmoor in Oxfordshire.
This low-lying fenland fed by the River Ray, a tributary of the Cherwell, once made up a large system of water meadows which flooded in winter, providing an important habitat for wading birds such as lapwing and snipe, as well as a range of rare marshland plants.
In the 1970s, farmers took advantage of generous grants from the European Economic Community, as it was then, to "improve" the land by draining the water away and converting it to cultivation of arable crops such as wheat and barley.
At the time, the Common Agricultural Policy was all about maximising food production, encouraging farmers to grow as much as possible, with a guaranteed minimum price to ensure that they did not have to worry about the surpluses built up by this system.
Or about the impact on wildlife from the conversion of natural spaces to intensive agriculture - a process now widely recognised as disastrous for a wide range of native British species.
Thirty years on, the same farms in Otmoor are once again benefiting from EU grants. This time, Brussels is helping to fund the re-flooding of the land and the restoration of redbud habitats to encourage the wildlife to return.
The BBC website has further information.
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