New rules do not contain same level of safeguards as under common agricultural policy

Britain’s hedgehogs could be at greater risk after Brexit because hedges may no longer be protected by agriculture regulations, a report says.

Under EU law, hedgerows cannot be cut during the bird nesting season and two-metre wild “buffer” strips cannot be doused with pesticides or ploughed up. This is designed to protect hedgerow habitats that provide refuge for 80% of woodland birds and 50% of all mammals.

The new agriculture bill reveals gaps in domestic legislation, meaning there is not the same level of protection as under the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP), according to the report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), commissioned by the Wildlife Trusts, RSPB and WWF.

This could mean a significant loss of habitat for the country’s dwindling hedgehog population, which has already fallen by 97% since the 1950s, according to a 2018 report.

Nests of woodland and farmland birds such as linnets, yellowhammer and turtle doves could also be destroyed. Mammals such as field voles and hazel dormice are also at risk.

“Hedgerows may just be dividers between crops to us, but they are often hidden worlds, teeming with the amazing wildlife that calls our farmland home,” said Tom Lancaster, head of land, seas and climate policy at the RSPB.

Bird nesting season runs from February to August. Under the CAP, farmers are not allowed to trim hedges between 1 March and 1 September. EU law says buffer strips must be two metres wide and must not have fertilisers or pesticides put on them.

These protections are not contained in the new legislation being debated in the House of Commons.

The bill moves away from a system where farmers receive subsidies based on how much land they farm to a process where they receive money for public goods such as providing habitats for wildlife and maintaining healthy soils.

Campaigners are lobbying the government to make sure every farmer meets minimum environmental standards after Britain leaves the EU, not just those that sign up for wildlife subsidies.

“The agriculture bill includes vital new powers to pay farmers to restore nature but is silent on the rules and regulations for farming in the future. With the change that Brexit will bring, this presents real risks to our soils and hedgerows, and the nature that depends upon them,” Lancaster said.

There is already a gap in domestic and EU regulations that means farmers can fill in ponds or leave them to become overgrown. Campaigners want this addressed in the new regulations because ponds support a large proportion of freshwater biodiversity, especially uncommon freshwater species such as damselflies. The report also flags a lack of protection for bare soils.

Debbie Tripley, the director of environmental policy and advocacy at WWF, said: “Unless the government starts plugging the gaps left by leaving EU regulation, our soils, hedgerows and the wildlife that depends on them are at risk. We need firm but fair enforcement and advice that ensure food is produced to high environmental standards across the country.”

Cutting hedgerows during nesting season could be “calamitous” for wild pollinators and birds, says Lynn Dicks, a lecturer in animal ecology from the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the research.

“Hedgerows are really important for wild pollinators, especially because they provide flower resources in the early spring, often when not much else is in flower.

“If hedgerows are more frequently cut in the spring and early summer, a practice that currently breeches EU regulations, substantial proportions of this spring flower resource in the English countryside could be lost. A third of our wild bee and hoverfly species are already declining. Loss of flowers in the hedgerows can only make this worse.”

Alexander Lees, senior lecturer in conservation biology at Manchester Metropolitan University said: “It seems ridiculous that we should have to worry that legislation to protect our natural capital like soils and clean water might be eroded, no forward thinking nation should ever contemplate such acts of self-harm, yet our current track record at enforcement of regulation is already very poor.”

A Defra spokesperson said: “We will continue to be a world leader on the environment as we leave the EU and both the agriculture bill and the environment bill are a crucial part of that.

“We will not lower the exceptionally high environmental standards we already hold. In fact, leaving the EU means we can transform British agriculture to reward farmers for enhancing the environment, tackling climate change and protecting our wildlife for future generations.”