Bird Collapse in France
The bird populations across the French countryside have fallen by a third over the last 15 years. Dozens of species have seen their numbers decline, in some cases by two-thirds. The Frech countryside is in the process of becoming a veritable desert.
The common white throat, the ortolan bunting, the Eurasian skylark and other once-ubiquitous species have all fallen off by at least a third, according a detailed, annual census initiated at the start of the century. A migratory song bird, the meadow pipit, has declined by nearly 70%.
The problem is not that birds are being poisoned, but that the insects on which they depend for food have disappeared. Recent research has uncovered similar trends across Europe.
The primary culprit is the intensive use of pesticides on vast tracts of monoculture crops, especially wheat and corn. Shrinking woodlands, the absence of the once common practice of letting fields lie fallow and especially rapidly expanding expanses of mono-crops have each played a role.
Despite a government plan to cut pesticide use in half by 2020, sales in France have climbed steadily.