Latest news with #natureFriendlyFarming
The Independent
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Cutting nature-friendly farming budget would be ‘devastating', Government warned
Cutting the budget for nature-friendly farming would be 'devastating' for wildlife and rural communities, the Government has been warned. Environmentalists warned that cutting the spend on the post-Brexit farming schemes, which pay farmers and landowners to deliver public goods such as hedgerows, wildflower habitat and clean water, would 'remove all hope' of the Government meeting targets to reverse nature's declines. And farmers, who have already been hit by changes to inheritance tax and the abrupt closure of this year's sustainable farming incentive (SFI), the biggest strand of the environmental land management scheme (Elms), said cuts would be 'disastrous'. The warnings come in the face of reports that the Environment Department (Defra's) nature-friendly farming budget, which has replaced EU agricultural subsidies based mostly on the amount of land farmed, will be cut in the forthcoming spending review. The Government announced a 'record' £5 billion spending over two years on sustainable farming, but the long term future of the funding looks threatened by looming departmental cuts, while there are concerns cash could be targeted at small farms or in certain areas rather than across the countryside. Environmentalists warned that the nature-friendly farming budget was the UK's biggest spend on nature and, with 70% of land used for farming, key to meeting the Government's manifesto pledge to achieve targets to halt declines in nature by 2030. Barnaby Coupe, senior land use policy manager at The Wildlife Trusts, says: ' Rumours of further cuts to the farming budget are deeply concerning and, if true, would cripple funding for restoring nature and remove all hope of reaching the Government's targets for wildlife recovery.' He warned the £2.5 billion a year in the current farming budget 'already falls short' of what was needed, adding: 'Whittling this down further will see progress stall and reverse.' 'If the cuts go ahead, the Government's promise to bring back wildlife will be in tatters – and farmers will be left unsupported to adapt to extreme climate change and exposed to the whims of market forces demanding unsustainable and intensified food production.' Richard Benwell, chief of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: 'Cutting the nature-friendly farming budget would be devastating for nature, farmers and rural communities.' He said that a transition to nature-friendly farming could help reverse declines in rivers, woodland, wildflowers and wildlife, at the same time as reducing air, soil and water pollution, and supporting a thriving profitable farming sector and rural communities. 'But without a decent budget to pay farmers for the environmental benefits they provide, the future of entire ecosystems will be in doubt.' Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN), said: 'These cuts would be disastrous if implemented, with the negative impact felt far beyond farming and reaching the wider public. 'Investing in nature-friendly farming helps protect communities from the devastation of flooding. 'It reduces the impact of climate change by protecting and restoring carbon-storing habitats such as peatland. 'It also supports the delivery of affordable, renewable energy.' He said that if the Government was serious about sustainable growth and long-term food production, it needed to invest in England's landscapes, adding: 'Farmers are ready to play their part, but they are being let down by ministers turning off the funding tap. 'The simplest, most cost-effective solution to the problems we face is to invest now. 'If we fail to act, and wait until the impacts of climate change worsen, the cost will be far higher,' he warned. National Farmers' Union president Tom Bradshaw said: 'Alongside numerous rural, environmental and nature groups, including the RSPB and National Trust, we have repeatedly called for government to honour its commitments, with budget and partnership, to protect nature and restore habitats through agriculture. 'But without funding, this will be government giving up on its own environmental targets – targets which it relied on farmers to deliver.' He warned that farmers would be left 'prioritising economic returns and balancing tough choices between farming the land as hard as they can just to make a living and continuing to focus on environmental works they have been proud to deliver'. And he said farms of all sizes had a key role in helping deliver for food, nature and climate. Defra said it would not comment on speculation.
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK fund for nature-friendly farming to be slashed in spending review
The nature-friendly farming budget is set to be slashed in the UK spending review, with only small farms allowed to apply, it can be revealed. Sources at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed the post-Brexit farming fund will be severely cut in the review on 11 June. It will be part of a swathe of cuts to departments, with police, social housing and nature funding expected to face the brunt. Labour promised a fund of £5bn over two years, from 2024 to 2026, at the budget, which is being honoured, but in the years following that it will be slashed for all but a few farms. The nature-friendly farming fund is a package of payments that replaced the EU's common agricultural policy and paid land managers for the amount of land in their care, with the aim of paying farmers to look after nature, soil and other public goods, rather than simply for farming and owning land. Many farms rely on these payments to make ends meet. Defra is understood to be focusing the money on areas that it has mapped out as having the best potential for nature, such as the uplands, and paying farmers not to cultivate on peat soil. Defra sources said the scheme will be targeted at 'small farms'; wealthier farmers will not be eligible, meaning larger farms will be locked out of nature-friendly farming incentives. Environmental groups fear that along with the planning and infrastructure bill, which removes nature protections from areas that were previously protected under the EU, nature will decline. In Europe, the common agricultural policy is being overhauled to include some payments for nature. Now it is feared British farms will have to intensify production to make ends meet as the post-Brexit subsidies are stopped completely for some landowners. It is understood ministers will argue farming profitability will be boosted during this period, and that the new nature restoration fund created by the planning and infrastructure bill will provide private investment for nature-friendly farming. Biodiversity net gain rules for developers are also expected to be watered down after the Ministry of Housing and Local Government launched a review into the efficacy of developers creating space for nature when they build houses. Under the plans, development sites as large as 49 houses could benefit from simplified rules. At the moment, developers have to provide a 10% uplift for nature on the sites they build on. Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, said of the nature restoration fund being used to fund farmers instead of government money: 'I think it's dangerous to mix up those pots, we need decent funding for farmers to do nature recovery and you need decent funding for nature recovery in the wider countryside. If we start merging those together I don't see how we are going to make any progress on our domestic and international targets. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion 'There are a lot of people very nervous about what's going on –there are obviously massive concerns about the planning bill, which is slashing protections for otters, dolphins and so many treasured species. There's concern about cuts to funding for nature friendly farming, there are rumours about the government pulling back on ambition from [biodiversity regulations for housebuilders] which would pull the rug from under the feet of private investors who are funding nature recovery. 'All this together will be pretty devastating, and very hard to see how we will deliver on Labour's general election promises to deliver nature recovery.' Defra declined to comment.
