Choochoo Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Hi everybodyDoes anyone have the details of this EU declaration recently which is causing all the Farmers to go berserk with their chainsaws and cut down lots of hedgerow trees ?. Around here (50) the countryside is getting decimated.Just curious.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Can you say what this EU Directive is and where you are getting your information from?Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 John's right - the destruction of hedgerows this year in southern Manche has been noticeably greater than previous years. I didn't know there was an EU connection, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Perhaps this helps, just copied it from Europa Environment section.Farmers have categorically not been told to "tear up" hedgerows. Under the Common Agricultural Policy, aid payments are made on the basis of area. The existing Regulation appeared to provide an incentive for farmers to turn hedgerow into field area. Concern for the consequent wildlife implications led the Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to agree that existing rules should continue to apply. Now, however, the Commission has announced a proposal stating that hedgerows, traditionally part of good agricultural cropping and utilisation practices, which are up to 2 metres wide, can be considered as eligible for aid. Under certain other conditions, hedges wider than two metres could also be eligible in view of specific environmental needs.This effectively means that the entire land area receives subsidies including the hedgerows. Now, being paid by way of subsidy to replant hedgerows is another matter, but you can't be paid to replace hedgerows if they are already there!!!!Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixietoadstool Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 I had presumed that it was farmers doing their wood harvest - I have heard they cut down the trees growing in their hedges every 7 years, thereby providing firewood and allowing a useful coppice environment for wildlife. Coppicing seems to be quite beneficial for the environment, in certain circumstances and it is a nice way of growing your own fuel!!I also think it is quite characteristic of the typical bocage countryside - well known in my part of Normandie.This is not the first time I have noticed it in Manche. The coppiced trees from a few years ago have now produced lots of healthy shoots and will probably be harvested themselves in a few years time.Valerie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 I think you may have it, Chris.What seemed to be happening near us was that the trees were being taken out of the hedgerows. Is there an EU definition of a hedgerow that is being exploited here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Thing is Valerie, there is more than one thing going on. Rotational coppicing for fire wood is one, ripping out hedgerows wholesale is another and these in the region where I live are not replaced UNTIL money is forthcoming and enough to make the extra work involved worthwhile.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixietoadstool Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 I absolutely accept what you say Chris but in my part of Normandie (the bocage area of Manche) I have seen absolutely no evidence of farmers ripping out hedgerows - just the normal felling of tree trunks in mature hedgerows - which looks quite shocking at first but in time grows back as coppice.Valerie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris pp Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Hi Valerie, It seems more connected with whether the land, in your case bocage, is used for pasture which I assume it is, or if it is land which is or can be used for cereals or other food crops, this is where the hedgerow removal seems to be mainly taking place. I wasn't sure what the original poster to this thread was saying, but they are in Manche, you would know more than me about the local conditions.Cheers, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Choochoo: were you kidding about it being an EU directive or were you serious? Also in Manche: in the area exactly around me, some of the agricultural land has been changing hands. Severe tree felling - but leaving the stumps to allow regeneration - has been taking place immediately prior to the land becoming available. In these instances I'm supposing it is farmers taking their harvest pre-sale but do agree, it seems much more widespread this year. It does make a nearby hedgerow look extremely bare but gazing out across the countryside as a whole, it seems to make no difference to the tree cover over the years. There are a lot of fields given over to pasture - cows mostly - with the main crop being (predicatably in view of the cows) maize for forage.About 5 years ago I think I remember hearing of some French initiative to stop the further division of the land between children on inheritance. I cannot bring exactly what I heard to mind (and a quick google hasn't helped) but perhaps hedgerow removal is related to some of these strips of land being reunited under one owner leading to unwanted (!) hedgerows being removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixietoadstool Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Hi there "Cat"!I remember a similar thing about re-allocating parcels of land to make them more useable by the farmers. I think it went along the lines of doing "swapsies" from one village/town/area to another. I suppose this could mean breaking down hedgerows to make larger fields. It is certainly worth keeping an eye on ...[blink]... as are the HT power lines in our back yards ([;-)]NIMBY - moi?).Valerie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Yes, I think it was something like that. Several large fields have changed hands around here in the past few months and they happen to be the ones we saw heavily harvested earlier in the year. I haven't seen any hedgerows grubbed up though.I've no particular news about the power lines - and it's not a case of NIMBY! It's a case of NIABY - not in anyone's backyard. There are a lot of smaller protest / pressure groups in existence now, each covering for eg 3 or 4 cantons. I had assumed that farmers would be quite pleased to get the €2500 pylon payment but that doesn't seem to be the case generally - farmers are considerably more concerned about the health of their animals and also the health of their children / grandchildren / great-grandchildren. Which is nice. Will may have more info or at least different info so perhaps he'll comment on the other thread. I may have some info in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choochoo Posted May 9, 2006 Author Share Posted May 9, 2006 Thanks to all for your input. I got the EU connection from somebody I mentioned it to, so this could be wrong. It was just amazing waking up every morning to the sound of chainsaws in the distance. Reminded me of the petrol queues in England, somebody mentions that fuel might go short and suddenly there is a mile long queue at every station. We have had our house here for six years and lived here for two, never seen anything like it before, and all in such a short space of time. I also heard that this directive, if it exists, would lead to a shortage of firewood, making it more expensive and difficult to obtain.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 This seems to be an old Euromyth recycled (from 2000) as someone else has said.See http://europa.eu.int/unitedkingdom/press/euromyths/myth44_en.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixietoadstool Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Dick's link doesn't seem to work, so I have reproduced it from the original EU site:Euromyth: Tear up hedgerows full of wildlife European chiefs have told British farmers to tear up hedgerows full of wildlife - because they are too wide. The Mirror, 13 March 2000, p17 Farmers have categorically not been told to "tear up" hedgerows. Under the Common Agricultural Policy, aid payments are made on the basis of area. The existing Regulation appeared to provide an incentive for farmers to turn hedgerow into field area. Concern for the consequent wildlife implications led the Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to agree that existing rules should continue to apply. Now, however, the Commission has announced a proposal stating that hedgerows, traditionally part of good agricultural cropping and utilisation practices, which are up to 2 metres wide, can be considered as eligible for aid. Under certain other conditions, hedges wider than two metres could also be eligible in view of specific environmental needs. However, it doesn't help much in our search for the facts, does it? I will try and find some more information ... Valerie[geek] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 It may help inasmuch as it is a myth which may have been recycled, as these things so often are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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