CHARITY CHIEFS' PLEA FOR FUNDING TO BRING BACK FARMLAND WILDLIFE
A NEW initiative has been unveiled to encourage farmers to be more wildlife-friendly.
The RSPB, National Trust and The Wildlife Trusts are calling
for £2.3-billion to be spent annually on
land management projects that look after nature. |
| A Lincolnshire arable field in winter - not a bird to be seen |
A NEW initiative has been unveiled to encourage farmers to be more wildlife-friendly.
Such an investment would represent a five-fold increase for the UK as a whole on current levels of funding for environmental land management, but the three organsations say it is “critical towards restoring a healthy natural environment”.
A joint report states: “The farming sector will need to be
supported in this transition to a better and more effective system.
“This would mean investing in new technologies to adapt to
the challenges of the modern market and the needs of consumers while supporting
the recovery of our natural world and enabling species to return.
”Central to a new approach to farming policies across the UK should be the premise that payments should be made for the way landowners manage the land, not how much land they have.
”In practice, this means a farmer who restores hedgerows, woodland and ponds, or provides services like carbon storage, and flood prevention and alleviation - alongside continuing to farm their land - is rewarded.
”Central to a new approach to farming policies across the UK should be the premise that payments should be made for the way landowners manage the land, not how much land they have.
”In practice, this means a farmer who restores hedgerows, woodland and ponds, or provides services like carbon storage, and flood prevention and alleviation - alongside continuing to farm their land - is rewarded.
“But a landowner who happens to own many hectares, but does
nothing to give nature a helping hand, is not.
This will ensure that our nature is protected, that our farmers can continue to produce the high-quality food which we all need and enjoy, and that farming communities can continue to thrive.”
This will ensure that our nature is protected, that our farmers can continue to produce the high-quality food which we all need and enjoy, and that farming communities can continue to thrive.”
“Farmers recognise that public funding should be linked to delivering wider public benefits and not based on the size of land holdings.
“We are working with our farm tenants to look at how we can support them over the coming years to produce high quality food while continuing to act as expert custodians for our countryside.
"We are also exploring potential new income streams for farmers such as payments from private companies to slow the flow of water from their land.”
Agrees the RSPB's head of land use policy, Jenna Hegarty (below): "The UK has the potential to show the world that our nation can do something that no one else has managed to achieve - a thriving farming sector that both delivers for nature and for people.
“To achieve the UK Government’s pledge to leave the environment in a better state for the next generation, it is time to move away from agricultural payments based on the size of land holdings towards a model that recognises the unique role our farmers must play in helping nature.
“This means investing the existing budget in a better system that works for nature, underpins farm livelihoods and benefits everyone in the UK."
The Wildlife Trusts’ senior policy manager, Ellie Brodie (above), comments: “We have a chance to reverse the fortunes of wildlife and the soil, water and habitats which our whole society relies upon, not least farmers themselves.
“The estimated cost of £2.3-billion annually will help to set us on this positive path.
“We need to invest now if we are to see a return of species that were once common but are now rare, the return of hedgerows for wildlife, rich soils capturing carbon and water, and woodland that is not only beautiful, but helps reduce flood risk.”
* In a speech to the Oxford Farming Conference later today (January 4), Environment Secretary Michael Gove is expected to endorse the principle of much of the report, but - possibly for political advantage - he will probably also argue for farmers to be paid for encouraging public access to land.
The organisations' funding estimates have been published at :
http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/assessing_the_costs_of_environmental_land_management_in_the_uk_final_report_22_nov_17_0.pdf
The Wildlife Trusts' policy document on farming is at: http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/the_wildlife_trust_future_land_policy_briefing_dec_17.pdf
The Wryneck says:"Good fortune in 20018 to the three organisations on this initiative even if much of it is an iteration of what they were saying 15 month ago. Unfortunately, the National Farmers' Union is not a signatory, and it is known what input, if any, it has provided. And what of the multinational crop chemical companies whose products are so harmful to birds, bees and butterflies? Unless application of their herbicides and insecticide sprays is restricted, no amount of habitat creation is likely to have much more than a marginal impact in restoring long-lost birds, butterflies and other wildlife to our countryside.
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