A new report published today has reported on early findings of the impact of the Glastir land management scheme and long term trends in the Welsh countryside.
The study, from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), shows evidence from over fifty indicators collected in a major field survey campaign.
Glastir is the sustainable land management scheme, through which the Welsh Government offers financial support to farmers and land managers.
The study suggests there have been improvements in the Welsh countryside for people and nature over the last 30-40 years.
The report found there are two to three times more indicators improving (26-30%) than declining (8-14%) in the short and long term, with the remaining 60% showing no change.
Stability in wildlife diversity
The report shows that success has been seen in the improvement of blanket bogs over the last two decades which has been the focus of so much restoration action.
Improvement has also been seen in stream water quality.
There is now overall stability in bird diversity and specialist butterfly species, with improvements in woodland and upland breeding bird populations.
Overall, plant species richness and those indicative of good condition are stable or improving in woodland, open habitat and improved land.
More public rights of way are now easy to use.
Concerns
Remaining areas of concern are that under half of Historic Environment Features are under some type of threat.
Another concern is that 35% priority bird species remain in decline, and only a minority of ponds are in good ecological condition.
Soil quality is generally stable, but with some early warning signs of some potential problems which need to be monitored going forward.
The Glastir Monitoring and Evaluation Programme was commissioned to measure its success, providing government with early feedback as to its likely performance and a baseline for future assessments.
Combating climate change
To assess the effect of entry into the scheme on farmer actions, a survey of 600 farmers was carried out.
The results show 54% of farmers in the Glastir scheme, compared to 37% outside, are taking action to combat climate change.
More actions by farmers in scheme are also taking place to improve diversification and efficiency.
Modelling work to explore the benefits of these actions suggest more concerted and targeted action is needed to meet the targets set by the Welsh Government for the sustainable use of natural resources.
However, the field survey suggests land which has come into the scheme has more characteristics thought to help make land more resilient to disturbances and stress.
