Quotes
James MacColl, Head of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns at the Ramblers said:
"The Government must not abandon its plans to establish a new approach to farming that helps connect people with nature, while also supporting the rural economy to thrive.
"Improved public access will help more people to lead active lifestyles, reducing health costs, will allow more people to connect with and understand nature, essential for its future protection and improvement, and will boost rural economies, where many businesses rely so heavily on the recreation and tourism industry. Abandoning all the work the government has put into this now would be to waste these opportunities.”
Megan Randles, Policy Advisor, Greenpeace UK, said:
“Properly supporting a shift away from industrial farming and towards nature-friendly farming is one of the most important and practical ways the UK government could show a serious commitment to tackling the climate and nature crises. Any delay to the rollout of ELMS or watering down of the scheme would, once again, beg the question - who voted for this?”
Emily Hunter, policy lead on land use for the Woodland Trust, said:
“Trees can be both an important part of productive and resilient agriculture and vital in fighting climate change and helping nature. It is therefore essential that land managers are supported to look after existing trees and woods and encouraged to bring many more trees into farming systems. That needs Government to commit funding, advice and support across all three components of ELM to make it a reality. We know the appetite is there as we have helped famers create more than 200 agroforestry systems over the last eight years, planting more than a quarter of a million trees.”
Jenny Hawley, Policy Manager at Plantlife International, said:
"There can be no U-turns on nature’s recovery – two in five wild plant species are already at risk of extinction. Farmland flowers have declined by a staggering 96% in the last 200 years, 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost and arable species are now the fastest declining group of wildflowers in England. Over 120 wildflowers depend on our farmlands to survive and species including Corn Buttercup, Broad-fruited Corn Salad, Small-flowered Catchfly and Pheasant’s-eye each survive at fewer than 30 fields in the UK and are at risk of extinction. Using public money to restore our meadows and other farmland will also secure sustainable food production for future generations. But to allow nature and farm businesses to thrive across England, we need an ambitious and well-funded ELM scheme, high-quality advice and clear regulation.”
Joan Edwards, director of policy and public affairs at The Wildlife Trusts, says:
“Sustainable food systems are underpinned by a healthy environment and thriving wildlife, and new farm payments in England provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unlock the huge potential of our farmers to produce high quality food whilst bringing nature back into the countryside. The public recognises this, and the results of this polling should serve as a clear message for the Government to go further and faster in supporting farmers to develop nature-friendly and climate-resilient farming systems. The record temperatures and prolonged droughts of this year were a taste of future conditions in a changing climate – and so ambitious action cannot come soon enough for the farming sector.”
Polling:
YouGov Plc conducted polling on behalf of Wildlife and Countryside Link on public perspectives about Government farming policy . Total sample size was 1,724 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 14th – 16th October 2022. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
The polling can be found below:
In this section: