EU biodiversity route risks undermining farmers green achievements

The NFU has said the EU risks undermining the efforts made by farmers to protect precious biodiversity and water resources if it chooses to continue with its greening route for the Common Agriculture Policy.

The news comes as the The EU Commission adopted a Communication¹ on its 2020 Biodiversity Strategy: Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020.

The strategy comes in response to last years recognition by EU leaders that the 2010 biodiversity targets would not be met. However NFU President Peter Kendall said that while the CAP does and will continue to have a major role in delivering the EUs environmental objectives, it is also being called upon to deliver so much in terms of food production to feed a growing global population.

Our mantra has been and continues to be produce more, impact less. That is why I firmly believe that we must optimise the effectiveness of the tools we have at our disposal for delivering both increased food production and environmental goods.

The Commission has chosen to go down the road of adding more environmental conditionality into direct payments. I think this is wrong. The most effective way of delivering environmental results is through tried and tested methods; targeted, multi-annual agri-environmental schemes like the Entry Level Scheme and capturing farmers enthusiasm to do more for the environment through voluntary initiatives like the Campaign for the Farmed Environment are working.

England was one of the early adopters of the widespread agri-environment schemes. Currently over 67 per cent of agricultural land here is under some form of agri-environment scheme; this is a significant step change in a relatively short period of time. These schemes offer the most efficient use of land and resources by allowing the right environmental measures to be targeted in the right place. However I fear that the approach the Commission is taking with making greening a mandatory element of direct payments risks undermining the efforts English farmers are already making.

Lets not forget that successive changes to the CAP in recent years, especially the development of targeted agri-environment schemes, have already given us results. Farmland birds like cirl buntings, stone curlews, goldfinch, greenfinch, reed buntings and whitethroat have all shown increases.

Farmers efforts towards improving water quality have already had a positive impact too. Many river habitats are thriving, with 80 per cent achieving good quality according to the Environment Agencys General Quality Assessment.  The 2010 otter survey of England showed that the number of sites with evidence of otter life had increased tenfold in the past 30 years – exceeding the 2015 targets set in the revised Biodiversity Action Plan. That is why I am disappointed to see this Communication considering further obligations within cross-compliance. Not only are they very premature, and in direct conflict with the participatory Water Framework Directive approach being developed in the UK, I fear that introducing a blanket non-targeted measure to address an issue that is so highly site-specific is simply the wrong approach.

One of the best examples of what can be achieved by industry working together with stakeholders, government and regulators is the Voluntary Initiative, which promotes responsible pesticide use in the UK. Pesticide use fell by around 37 per cent between 1990 and 2008 and is seeing continued success.

Farmers and growers are already offering many of the solutions to the multifaceted problem facing us both in terms of resource protection and food production. We need EU frameworks to support this goal, not tie it in green tape.

• The Commission Communication can be viewed at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/comm2006/pdf/2020/1_EN_ACT_part1_v7%5b1%5d.pdf
• The Strategys framework for action over the next decade, agriculture in particular has been singled out in the Communication with a specific sub-target to maximise the areas under agriculture that are covered by biodiversity-related measures under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It states that the efforts to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem services into other policies remains insufficient and that existing instruments under the forthcoming reform of the CAP will contribute to this target.  Specifically it refers to CAP direct payments being used to reward the delivery of environmental public goods that go beyond cross-compliance.