The Government says the Local Nature Recovery scheme “will pay farmers for locally-targeted actions which make space for nature” and is a more ambitious successor to the Countryside Stewardship scheme. The Landscape Recovery scheme will “support more radical changes to land-use change and habitat restoration.” 

Following our disappointment at the announcement of the Sustainable Farming Incentive before Christmas, The Wildlife Trusts, National Trust, and RSPB welcome today’s commitment to ambitious environmental land management and radical landscape scale change, but are concerned the latest announcements are lacking clarity on how the schemes will work and achieve true integration of farming and nature. 

The charities warn that time is running out for the Government to get farming reforms right to halt the decline of species by 2030 and tackle the worsening climate emergency. 

Farming covers around 70% of the land in the UK, and the intensification and industrialisation of agriculture is the leading cause behind catastrophic declines of wildlife in recent decades. 

Leaving the EU provided Britain with the opportunity to change how it supported landowners to manage land for nature, as well as producing food in a sustainable way. 

However, the UK’s three biggest nature charities say this golden opportunity is in jeopardy, with key information still missing less than two years until the scheme is meant to be fully rolled out. They argue the documents published today fail to provide: 

• Sufficient detail about how the schemes will work, including eligibility criteria, making it difficult for farmers to plan in time for full rollout in 2024.
• Information about how Government will ensure these schemes achieve target outcomes, including those outlined in the 25-year environment plan, with flexibility allowing farmers to “choose the best for their business”, rather than being given guidance about which actions would be best for nature. 
• How local and national priorities will be determined, ranked, and allocated sufficient budget to achieve those target outcomes
• Information about advice available to farmers, where guidance can be accessed, and who it will be provided by. 

Harry Barton, Chief executive of Devon Wildlife Trust, said:

“We welcome today’s announcement.  Devon and the South West have some of the best wildlife in the country, from rare culm grassland to Atlantic oak woodlands – our “temperate rainforest”- as well as some of the country’s most productive farmland.  The new schemes appear to be a big improvement on the previous subsidy regime.  This is an exciting moment for the South West’s wildlife and its crucial farming industry. 

But the government needs to go further.  Many of Devon’s soils are in a perilous condition, losing carbon to the atmosphere and polluting our water supplies as they erode.  A target of 60% of soils being managed sustainably by 2030 is nowhere near ambitious enough.  300,000 ha of new wildlife habitat within 20 years is encouraging, but it still only amounts to a small fraction of the UK’s landscape, not the 30% we need in recovery for nature.  And much detail is still needed on funding and eligibility for the schemes.

This is a golden opportunity to bring together the enormous challenges of sustainable food production, wildlife restoration and tackling climate change.  Today’s announcement is a big step forward, but several more strides are needed.”

Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says: 

“The real test of this agricultural transition is not so much whether it is a little bit better or moderately better than what came before, but whether it will be enough to deliver on the Government’s targets to get 30% of land managed for nature by 2030, to halt the loss of wild species abundance by 2030, to deliver on the Government’s own 25-year environment plan, and to make sure farmers are supported so that they help solve rather than worsen the nature and climate crises. Anything less than that means that this historic opportunity will have been wasted. While we’re hearing the right noises from Government, the devil will be in the detail and the detail is still not published nearly six years after the EU referendum.” 

Last year, The Wildlife Trusts, National Trust and RSPB accused the Government of breaking promises about its commitments to agricultural reform. The charities said the announcement on the Sustainable Farm Incentive in December was a huge disappointment, that didn’t bode well for farming, nature or the climate. 

At COP26, the Secretary of State said the Government is “leading the way through our new agricultural system in England, which will incentivise farmers to farm more sustainably, create space for nature on their land and reduce carbon emissions.” But the charities said the scheme was at risk of recreating the status quo by funding basic good practice, and in some cases not providing benefits for nature at all.