Actions to conserve biodiversity
We have summarised evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of actions to conserve wildlife and ecosystems.
Review the evidence from the studies
Not sure what Actions are? Read a brief description.
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e.g. "frogs chytrid"
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Order results by:
Action | Effectiveness | Studies | Category | |
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Plant wild bird seed or cover mixture Action Link |
Beneficial | 40 |
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Pay farmers to cover the costs of bird conservation measures Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 30 |
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Provide or retain set-aside areas in farmland Action Link |
Beneficial | 22 |
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Scare birds from fish farms Action Link |
Likely to be ineffective or harmful | 16 |
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Plant grass buffer strips/margins around arable or pasture fields for birds Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 15 |
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Leave overwinter stubbles Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 14 |
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Reduce grazing intensity Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 12 |
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Exclude grazers from semi-natural habitats Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 11 |
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Reduce tillage Action Link |
Trade-off between benefit and harms | 10 |
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Leave uncropped, cultivated margins or plots, including lapwing and stone curlew plots Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 9 |
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Create uncultivated margins around intensive arable or pasture fields for birds Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 8 |
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Manage hedges to benefit birds Action Link |
Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence) | 7 |
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Plant nectar flower mixture/wildflower strips for birds Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 7 |
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Create skylark plots for bird conservation Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 7 |
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Reduce management intensity on permanent grasslands for birds Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 7 |
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Create beetle banks Action Link |
Unlikely to be beneficial | 6 |
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Use netting to exclude fish-eating birds Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 6 |
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Increase the proportion of natural/semi-natural vegetation in the farmed landscape Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 5 |
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Undersow spring cereals, with clover for example Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 5 |
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Revert arable land to permanent grassland Action Link |
Likely to be ineffective or harmful | 5 |
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Delay haying/mowing Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 5 |
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Disturb birds at roosts Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 5 |
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Manage ditches to benefit wildlife Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 4 |
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Leave uncut rye grass in silage fields for birds Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 4 |
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Maintain traditional water meadows Action Link |
Likely to be beneficial | 4 |
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What are 'Individual studies' and 'Actions'?
Individual studies
An individual study is a summary of a specific scientific study, usually taken from a scientific journal, but also from other resources such as reports. It tells you the background context, the action(s) taken and their consequences.
If you want more detail please look at the original reference.
Actions
Each action page focuses on a particular action you could take to benefit wildlife or ecosystems.
It contains brief (150-200 word) descriptions of relevant studies (context, action(s) taken and their consequences) and one or more key messages.
Key messages show the extent and main conclusions of the available evidence. Using links within key messages, you can look at the paragraphs describing each study to get more detail. Each paragraph allows you to assess the quality of the evidence and how relevant it is to your situation.
Where we found no evidence, we have been unable to assess whether or not an intervention is effective or has any harmful impacts.