Changes in the rural landscape

Depopulation

is a major problem in rural areas as there are fewer jobs due to increased . As is the main industry in rural areas, people are forced to leave in search of .

As a result the population is ‘greying’, ie there are more older people, and schools may be forced to close because of reduced numbers of pupils, which leads to further job losses. As there is less money in the area, other shops and may be negatively impacted and may also close.

Increasingly many homes in rural communities are being bought as second or holiday homes by people who live permanently in . This also leads to various problems in the countryside.

House prices rise as the area becomes more popular, which makes it difficult for local people, especially first-time buyers, to afford to buy homes in their local area, and may force them to move away.

This further impacts upon services as the owners of these holiday homes are not there all the time and so, as houses lie empty, the services are not being used.

Removal of hedgerows

In order to increase field size to accommodate larger machinery, hedgerows, used to separate fields have been consistently removed. This has had both positive and negative effects:

Positive effects	Negative effects
Larger field size means more space to grow more crops.	Loss of hedgerows leads to a loss of animal habitat, which leads to a loss of biodiversity.
Increased yield means increased profit for farmers.	Loss of shelter belts protecting crops from the wind, as hedgerows are removed.
Larger machinery could be used making work faster and more efficient.	Negative impact on natural scenery.
Farmers save money as they do not have the costs of upkeep on the hedges.	Greater soil erosion as the roots of the hedgerow help to bind the soil together and keep it in place.

Positive effects	Larger field size means more space to grow more crops.
Negative effects	Loss of hedgerows leads to a loss of animal habitat, which leads to a loss of biodiversity.

Positive effects	Increased yield means increased profit for farmers.
Negative effects	Loss of shelter belts protecting crops from the wind, as hedgerows are removed.

Positive effects	Larger machinery could be used making work faster and more efficient.
Negative effects	Negative impact on natural scenery.

Positive effects	Farmers save money as they do not have the costs of upkeep on the hedges.
Negative effects	Greater soil erosion as the roots of the hedgerow help to bind the soil together and keep it in place.

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Rural environmentsChanges in the rural landscape