BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

May 2020 BBC Wildlife 27

WILDOPINION

O

neofthebestthings

aboutBrexitisthat

we’llbesaying

goodbye,onceand

forall,totheEU’s

outrageousCommon

AgriculturalPolicy.It maysoundas

dullaspesticide-ladenditchwater,but

it promisestobeterrificnewsforthe

UK’swildlife.

Thisdiabolicalsystemofsubsidies

• mostlypaidtoEUfarmerssimply
  forowningorusingfarmland– is
  designedtoguaranteehigheryields
  throughincreasinglyintensive
  farming.Quitesimply,themore
  ‘agricultural’landfarmerscontrol,
  themoremoneytheyget.Butit’s
  anunmitigateddisasterbecauseit
  providesa perverseincentivetoclear
  wildlifehabitats,eveninareasthat
  cannotbefarmed,toproducethe
  emptygroundthatqualifiesfor
  publichandouts.
  TheCommonAgriculturalPolicyis
  oneofthemainreasonswehavelost
  somuchwildlifeacrossEurope.Yetit
  coststaxpayersmorethan£50billion
  a year(£3.5billionofwhichgoesto
  farmersintheUK)andaccountsfor
  about 40 percentoftheentireEU
  budget.It’salsoincrediblyunfair.
  Somewealthylandownersreceive
  morethan£1milliona year– and
  manydon’tevenliveinEurope.Saudi
  princes,Russianoligarchsandother
  affluentforeignersjusthavetoown
  landheretoscooptherewards.
  Butthat’sallabouttochangein
  thebiggestshake-upofagriculture
  inmorethanhalfa century.Andit
  comesintheformoftheAgriculture
  Bill2019-21.Themainbodyofthe
  billappliestoEnglandbut,hopefully,
  there will be similarly ambitious and

MARKCARWARDINEisa frustrated and

frank conservationist.

TheconservationistdiscussesthechanginglandscapeofUK

agriculture and invites your thoughts on the subject.

MARK CARWARDINE

transformational

changesinScotland,

WalesandNorthern

Ireland,too.It could

belife-changing.

Therearemany

aspectstothisnew

legislation,ofcourse,

becauseit covers

everythingfrom

animalwelfareto

fairnessinthesupplychain.And

thereisa gooddoseofconservation:

it putsa muchstrongeremphasis

onimprovingthequalityofsoil,for

example,andprovidespowersto

prohibitorrestrictthesaleanduse

ofcertainpesticides.

Butthebitthathadmedancing

aroundtheofficetacklesthoseawful

landsubsidies,whichwillbephased

outovera seven-yearperiodstarting

in2021.Theplanistopayfarmers

about£3billiona yeartoprotect

wildlifeandecosystems– ratherthan

simply for owning land. In other

words,theywillbepaidtodothings

thatareforthegreatergood– such

asmaintainingcleanairandwater,

providingfloodprotection,improving

publicaccessand,bestofall,

encouragingwildlife– andthatwould

otherwisebringnofinancialreward.

Yo uc o u l da r g u et h a tn oo n e

shouldbepaidsimplyfornot

doingsomething– inthiscase,not

destroyingwildlifehabitats.PerhapsI

shouldbepaida subsidynottoempty

mydustbinoutontothestreet?It’s

alla bittopsy-turvy.A bettersolution

wouldbetofinefarmers(andanyone

else)whodestroywildlifehabitats.

Butthatsimplywouldn’twork.

WithNaturalEnglandandtheother

regulatorybodiesseeminglyspiralling

outofcontrol,therewouldbevirtually

nomonitoringorenforcement.Far

better,undercurrentcircumstances,

toputtheonusonfarmerstocarefor

nature(somedoalready,ofcourse,

butmostdon’t).Andthebestwayto

dothatistopaythemmoney.

Thisisundoubtedlya ground-

breakingbill.It’snotperfect– there

isnobindingcommitmenttoprevent

tradedealsallowingtheimportof

foodofa lowerstandardthanthat

producedbyBritishfarmers,for

instance– and,sinceit isstillin

embryonicstage,thedevilwillbein

thedetailasthebillisconvertedinto

policy.Butit’sundoubtedlya major

step in the right direction.

MY WAY OF THINKING

Sue Kennedy/rspb-images.com

Theplanisto

payfarmers

toprotect

wildlife,rather

thansimplyfor

owning land.

S

T

WHATDOYOUTHINK?If you

wanttosupportMarkinhisviews

orshoothimdowninflames,email

[email protected]

Willthefutureof

UKfarmingprovide

betterprotection

for wildlife?