CLA puts record straight on Campaign for the Farmed Environment after Natural England comments

The CLA today spoke out in response to comments made by Natural England's Chief Executive Dr Helen Phillips on the proposals for the Campaign for the Farmed Environment.

The CLA and NFU have developed proposals that seek to promote management practices to provide benefits for farmland biodiversity, resource protection and farmland birds - while also being good for businesses.

These proposals have been endorsed and supported by several influential conservation groups who believe the Campaign is the only option that can deliver both the environment and farming businesses.

CLA President Henry Aubrey-Fletcher said: "We are extremely disappointed with Dr Phillips' comments last week. English farmers lead the way for their participation in agri-environment schemes across Europe, and it is telling that other countries are now considering schemes similar to our own.

"We have stated in the Campaign targets that we will continue to promote Environmental Stewardship schemes to increase uptake in line with Natural England's own targets, while providing advice and support to farmers to adopt new scheme options to maximise the environmental outputs from their land. This fully complements Natural England's targets within their Corporate Plan."

However, the CLA President said the Campaign is also wider than Stewardship with challenging targets to encourage farmers outside of schemes to adopt voluntary action on their farms.

"It saddens us that Dr Phillips is intent on having a land area target similar to that of former set-aside when, by Natural England's own admission, the environmental benefits of set-aside could be recreated on only half a hectare of land for every hectare of set-aside," he said.

"The industry has not set any land area targets, believing that it is the quality of the environmental output which is important rather than the quantity of land that is out of production."  

The CLA President added: "The CLA and NFU have already started setting up county level action groups. These groups will bring together conservation bodies, government agencies and land managers to determine the type of county action and targets needed, so that if the Campaign is adopted we will hit the ground running.

"It is vital we champion English farmers and empower the industry to face future challenges such as that posed by climate change and the Water Framework Directive. It is land managers who have the greatest power to influence environmental outcomes."

CLA MEDIA CONTACTS:

For further information and interviews:

Phillippa Coates, Press Officer, 020 7460 7934, phillippa.coates@cla.org.uk

Oliver Wilson, Director of Communications, 020 7460 7936 or 07702 928828, ollie.wilson@cla.org.uk,

Out of hours: 020 7201 9511.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1.       The NFU/CLA Campaign for the Farmed Environment can be found on the CLA (http://www.cla.org.uk/policy_docs/CFE%20-%20Final%20-%2029.05.09.pdf) and NFU (www.nfu.org.uk) websites. It forms part of Defra's formal consultation on Environmental Standards for Farming. A formal proposal will be presented to Defra ministers.

2.     The Campaign  will  bring together organisations and bodies spanning the farming industry, advisory bodies, conservation groups and government agencies into a formal governance structure  led by a campaign steering group. This steering group will identify priorities and generate activities that help farmers and their advisers adapt land management if necessary. 

3.      The Campaign will promote a combination of measures, primarily the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme (ELS), and encourage additional voluntary measures that will recapture the environmental benefits associated with former set-aside land. It will ensure that consistent advice, support, training and demonstration are available to farmers and their advisers to facilitate the implementation of these measures on-farm. The Campaign will report annually to Ministers on progress.

Claire Collyer – Conservation Adviser

Advises on agri-environment grant schemes, SPS, cross compliance, designated areas (including SSSIs, SACs and SPAs) and Greening of the CAP.

Phone: 020 7235 0511
FAX: 020 7235 4696
Email claire.collyer@cla.org.uk