Schemes in several European countries are paying farmers to return cropland to marsh, permitting vanished or endangered species to come home
by NORMAN DUNN
In Europe’s coastal areas, some farmers are being encouraged to break drains and block ditches, letting their fields fall back into natural wetlands. The rewards include a richer wildlife – and payments of up to $500 dollars per acre!
For 45 years, the Rowson family were busy putting in drains to reclaim wetland on their Lincolnshire farm in East England. At that time, the British government wanted morecrop output and were happy to pay for the new ditches and pipes.