Europe faces 'biodiversity oblivion' after collapse in French birds, experts warn

Authors of report linking intensive farming and pesticides to bird declines say Europe's farmland risks becoming a desert that ultimately imperils all humansThe "catastrophic" decline in French farmland birds signals a wider biodiversity crisis in Europe which ultimately imperils all humans, leading scientists have told the Guardian.A dramatic fall in farmland birds such as skylarks, whitethroats and yellowhammers in France was revealed by two studies this week, with the spread of neonicotinoid pesticides - and decimation of insect life - coming under particular scrutiny. Continue reading...