In Switzerland, almost 40 percent of all bird species are threatened.

Species that were once common, such as the skylark or lapwing, have shrunk to just a few remaining populations. Experts are alarmed and are calling for rapid action and a rethink. They were the harbingers of early summer: the skylark, the cuckoo or the nightingale. But their song has disappeared from the meadows and fields. Hardly anyone notices this, because if you have never really noticed these birds, you won't miss them. How did it come to this?

After the film "The Silence of the Birds" we will discuss the biodiversity initiative, why it is an important building block for biodiversity in Switzerland and what chances there are of tackling it - the authors will look into the reasons. George Gilliéron is a retired teacher and amateur ornithologist. He observed the bird populations in his area as a child. At the age of 15 he started writing down all the birds he could see in a notebook. Today he can look back on an impressive chronicle. "Here, where the cornfield is today, four or five larks had their territory and you could hear them singing," he says. Today it is completely different. It is quiet, almost extinct.

What role does agriculture play in relation to biodiversity?

In order to achieve perfect harvests, farmers use pesticides that harm many plants and animals. But it is not just the farmers who have a responsibility. We consumers share a great deal of responsibility. "One small spot or a single flaw and the whole delivery is sent back," says Peter Schwab, a vegetable farmer in the Bernese Seeland. For him, it is clear: the effort to show more consideration for nature is right. But the balancing act between ever faster and more perfect production and concern for nature is anything but easy. Today's measures to promote biodiversity are far from sufficient. Nature needs more protection. Amateur ornithologist Jacques Pitteloud puts it succinctly: "Imagine a spring without birdsong. A world without nature would be a dreary and gray world. A world without poetry. And a world without poetry is not a beautiful world."