Farmland failings
Today, the Government released figures that find the life ebbing away from the English countryside.
Many of DEFRA’s natural environment indicators are showing positive trends – carbon, air quality, connection with nature – but the picture in our farmland is one of biodiversity desertification.
• In 2014, the breeding farmland bird index in England reached its second lowest recorded level, 56% lower than its level in 1970.
• Breeding wetland birds in England declined by 10% between 2008 and 2013.Since 1990, butterfly numbers on farmland have fallen by 27%, reaching a historical low point in 2012. The trend has shown a significant decline since 2009.
Nor are the failings confined to farmland itself
The number of surface water bodies in good condition fell from 25% in 2010 to just 20% last year. Much of this deterioration can be attributed to pollution—pesticides, fertiliser, sewage and slurry—seeping from farmland into our water supplies.
This is not to say that farmers are not good custodians of the land. Many invest in their land with love and care, nurturing nature wherever they can.
But the pressures of farm production are pushing our countryside to the brink. Mixed farming systems are disappearing, sowing patterns are changing to maximise profit and important habitats are gradually being uprooted in favour of farmland conformity.
Brexit brings uncertainty for protection of our natural world, but one clear opportunity is the chance to jettison the relics of the post-war production paradigm that have been locked into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for so long. It is time to design an Environment, Landscape and Food policy that will deliver food security and help make us rich in nature.
As part of the EU, we receive about £4bn every year for farming subsidies.
It is time to redirect that money to reward farmers for the full range of services they deliver—looking after our soil, air, water, landscapes and wildlife. No longer should the lion’s share of subsidy be linked to land-holding. Instead, we should ensure that we make the polluter pay and that those who provide public goods are paid.
Nor should figures like this be published quietly, without public and Parliamentary attention. We all have an interest in the outcome. It’s not just that a typical household pays hundreds of pounds of tax a year towards farm subsidy. More important, perhaps, is that the way we farm affects our heritage and our natural wealth. We shouldn’t allow the life to slip quietly away from our countryside: ever year, the Government should deliver a Natural Wealth Statement, setting out the condition of our natural assets alongside the Budget, and its investment plans for improving our environment.
The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has called an inquiry focusing on the future of farming post-Brexit. WWT will use our response to call on the Government to keep match the £4bn farmers currently receive, but to refocus it to deliver environmental improvement as well as quality food. This should be a core part of the Government’s 25 year environment plan.
In a few weeks, the State of Nature partnership will publish the biennial review of the UK’s wildlife. Defra’s statistics today are a warning of just how much there is to do—the opportunity to replace cap with an Environment, Landscape and Food policy may just be our chance to turn things round.
