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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/03/ministers-must-support-farmers-save-wildlife-damaging-uncertainty
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| Ministers must support farmers to save wildlife from 'damaging uncertainty' | Ministers must support farmers to save wildlife from 'damaging uncertainty' |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| British farmers are returning to intensive measures that deplete wildlife and damage the environment as a vacuum in government policy leaves them facing an uncertain future after the Brexit vote, the director general of the National Trust is warning. | British farmers are returning to intensive measures that deplete wildlife and damage the environment as a vacuum in government policy leaves them facing an uncertain future after the Brexit vote, the director general of the National Trust is warning. |
| In an outspoken message to ministers, Dame Helen Ghosh says action is needed now to create a seamless transition of subsidies and green incentives for farmers after the UK leaves the EU in order to avoid creating a decade of uncertainty in the countryside. | In an outspoken message to ministers, Dame Helen Ghosh says action is needed now to create a seamless transition of subsidies and green incentives for farmers after the UK leaves the EU in order to avoid creating a decade of uncertainty in the countryside. |
| In a speech at the Countryfile Live festival in Oxfordshire on Thursday, Ghosh will say there are examples of farmers digging up pastures that have been created with the support of green incentives from the EU, and returning to environmentally damaging intensive farming methods for short-term profit. | |
| “We have already seen examples of short-term decision-making, where farmers – in response to uncertainty about the future and income – have ploughed up pasture which was created with support from EU environmental money,” she said. “It’s very understandable, but heartbreaking.” | “We have already seen examples of short-term decision-making, where farmers – in response to uncertainty about the future and income – have ploughed up pasture which was created with support from EU environmental money,” she said. “It’s very understandable, but heartbreaking.” |
| Ghosh will call on ministers to create legislation now to deliver on their promise to maintain support for farmers and reward nature-friendly agriculture. | Ghosh will call on ministers to create legislation now to deliver on their promise to maintain support for farmers and reward nature-friendly agriculture. |
| She warned that waiting to formally leave the EU to draw up the necessary legislation would be too late as it could take up to 10 years for new support packages to be in place. | She warned that waiting to formally leave the EU to draw up the necessary legislation would be too late as it could take up to 10 years for new support packages to be in place. |
| “The longer we wait, the more we risk losing all the gains we have made over the last decade,” Ghosh says. | “The longer we wait, the more we risk losing all the gains we have made over the last decade,” Ghosh says. |
| The director general said farmers could feel optimistic about their prospects again if government promises became policy before the UK parts company with Brussels. | The director general said farmers could feel optimistic about their prospects again if government promises became policy before the UK parts company with Brussels. |
| She is asking ministers to: | She is asking ministers to: |
| • Maintain the EU’s £3bn-a-year support package for the industry with clear incentives for nature-friendly farming. | |
| • Ensure £800m of greening subsidies are redirected in 2019 – and not later – into more effective incentive systems rewarding farmers for working in unison with the natural environment. | |
| • Provide clear guarantees for farmers that food standards and environmental protections will be maintained or strengthened. | |
| The National Trust is part of the Greener UK coalition of environmental conservation and countryside groups which formed after the Brexit vote to ensure that environmental protections were maintained after the UK leaves the EU. | The National Trust is part of the Greener UK coalition of environmental conservation and countryside groups which formed after the Brexit vote to ensure that environmental protections were maintained after the UK leaves the EU. |
| Most of the rules that protect the environment in the UK come from EU legislation and directives, and groups including the National Trust, Greenpeace, the RSPB and Friends of the Earth – say they will hold the government to account. | |
| The government has promised to keep overall subsidies to farmers at the same level until 2022, but in his first speech the new environment secretary Michael Gove said the money would have to be earned through nature-friendly agriculture as part of his vision for a “green Brexit”. | The government has promised to keep overall subsidies to farmers at the same level until 2022, but in his first speech the new environment secretary Michael Gove said the money would have to be earned through nature-friendly agriculture as part of his vision for a “green Brexit”. |
| Ghosh will say these commitments could provide farming and wildlife with their greatest opportunity in a generation, but that there is a need for an end to the uncertainty farmers face. | Ghosh will say these commitments could provide farming and wildlife with their greatest opportunity in a generation, but that there is a need for an end to the uncertainty farmers face. |
| “We are within touching distance of a vision for the future of farming that sees thriving businesses successfully meeting the needs of the nation into the 21st century and beyond,” she says. | “We are within touching distance of a vision for the future of farming that sees thriving businesses successfully meeting the needs of the nation into the 21st century and beyond,” she says. |
| However, Ghosh said the “clock is ticking” for the government to provide clarity before the EU cashflow ends. | However, Ghosh said the “clock is ticking” for the government to provide clarity before the EU cashflow ends. |
| The National Trust says it is working in close partnership with farmers to build a post-Brexit future in which farming can thrive, nature can be revived and cultural heritage is protected in some of Britain’s most beautiful landscapes. | The National Trust says it is working in close partnership with farmers to build a post-Brexit future in which farming can thrive, nature can be revived and cultural heritage is protected in some of Britain’s most beautiful landscapes. |
| Ghosh says the government will need to extend its initial £3bn support package commitment for the “foreseeable future, if we are to repair the historic damage, adapt to climate change, and restore soil and water quality, habitats, species, natural flood protection and damaged landscapes.” | Ghosh says the government will need to extend its initial £3bn support package commitment for the “foreseeable future, if we are to repair the historic damage, adapt to climate change, and restore soil and water quality, habitats, species, natural flood protection and damaged landscapes.” |
| The National Trust says that over thepast 50 years, 60% of species have declined in the UK. | |
| Wildlife habitats have been lost, soils have become depleted, natural fertility impoverished and flood and drought impacts have increased. Farming yields are suffering because the land is exhausted, largely as a result of industrialised farming methods that have been incentivised since the second world war. | Wildlife habitats have been lost, soils have become depleted, natural fertility impoverished and flood and drought impacts have increased. Farming yields are suffering because the land is exhausted, largely as a result of industrialised farming methods that have been incentivised since the second world war. |
| Ghosh says that by redirecting £800m of watered-down EU green subsidies, the government could almost double the pot available to support nature-friendly farming to about £1.5bn. | Ghosh says that by redirecting £800m of watered-down EU green subsidies, the government could almost double the pot available to support nature-friendly farming to about £1.5bn. |
| The government’s agriculture bill and 25-year plan will give the UK a much-needed debate for what the nation wants from farming and the countryside in the 21st century, Ghosh says. | The government’s agriculture bill and 25-year plan will give the UK a much-needed debate for what the nation wants from farming and the countryside in the 21st century, Ghosh says. |
| “This includes the vital question of our role as a food producer, and can create much-needed certainty for farmers,” she added. | “This includes the vital question of our role as a food producer, and can create much-needed certainty for farmers,” she added. |
| “At the end of it, we need to create a situation in which sustainable and forward-looking farm businesses can thrive and deliver what the nation and the public want, within a framework of protection and restoration of all aspects of our precious natural environment.” | “At the end of it, we need to create a situation in which sustainable and forward-looking farm businesses can thrive and deliver what the nation and the public want, within a framework of protection and restoration of all aspects of our precious natural environment.” |