Natural England

North Wessex Downs AONB - A Natural Partner

• Thank you for inviting me to this wonderful part of the world.
• I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the fantastic work being going on here in this stunning and ancient landscape - imaginatively described I thought on your website as 'breasted hills curved as if under the influence of a great melody' - to ensure that, as Edward Thomas described at the end of the 19th century, they remain 'pure downland', or as close to as is possible in the modern age, with all the benefits to people, communities and wildlife that this brings.
• Two years in, I would also like to use this opportunity to set out how I hope the relationship between the network of AONBs and Natural England will develop in the future.
• There is no other way of saying it - AONBs are vital partners for Natural England.
• Around 16% of the land area in England is within AONB designation, more than either National Park or SSSI designation. That 16% of England contains significant tracts of our remaining semi natural habitats - like the chalk downland found here, and around a quarter of our premier wildlife sites - Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
• The family of AONBs in England are critically important in conserving the diversity and local distinctiveness of England's landscapes and wildlife - from the vast rugged, wilderness of the North Pennines to the ancient hunting woodlands of Cannock Chase, Houseman's blue hills in Shropshire to the lowland heaths of the Suffolk Coast.
• These landscapes are a fundamental part of England's culture and identity. They provide habitats for wildlife, sustain communities and bring pleasure to millions - locals and visitors alike. In short they matter to everyone.
• Here in this ancient landscape of spectacular rolling hills, you have no fewer than 66 SSSIs significant remaining tracts of some of England's most iconic habitats -chalk downland with a profusion of wild flowers, early gentians and orchids; rare butterflies like the Adonis blue; the gin clear (I wondered about crystal, but gin is too tempting) streams with brown trout, bullheads and native crayfish (I hope - that is if the American signals have left any.)
• But this is no nature reserve - this is now as much as working, managed landscape as it was in Saxon times. Here just over 50% of the land is under one of Natural England's agri-environment agreements.
• And while farmland birds continue to struggle, here you find, and credit is due here to the farmers and landowners of the North Wessex Downs, good populations of the rare farmland birds that are missing from other parts of the country - corn buntings, lapwings and skylarks.
• The success of the joint stone curlew project with the RSPB and landowners, where safe habitats are being provided for this most sensitive, and dare I say peculiar looking, of birds is also greatly encouraging.
• I know that the Catchment Sensitive farming scheme here is making a real difference on the Kennet and the Lambourne, with the Environment Agency, Natural England and farmers working together to keep the streams gin clear, silt free and full of wildlife.
• Our challenge then is to find ways to move with changing times and without degrading the rich natural assets that makes places like the North Wessex Downs so special.

Natural England and NWD working in partnership

• I think that makes us natural partners and on inspection the goals of Natural England and the North Wessex Downs AONB partnership are, it seems to me, barely distinguishable.
• Natural England was established "to conserve and enhance the natural environment, its intrinsic value and for the wellbeing and enjoyment of people and the economic prosperity that it brings,"
• It is our responsibility to integrate the needs of wildlife, agriculture, business, the rights and needs of people for housing, for jobs and for a decent quality of life.
• We both believe that landscapes like North Wessex Downs are too important for local communities, visitors and wildlife alike to allow them to fragment, degrade or fall into disrepair.
• The partnership role of AONBs, as we have heard this morning [CHECK] is much broader than getting on with Natural England.
• Your job is bring together a wide range of partners to create a shared vision for the AONB- the 173 parishes and 11 different sets of local authorities; the farmers, land managers and big landowners; conservationists and environmentalists (who may not always agree); businesses; communities and people young and old.
• And then deliver it!
• That's why I think the management planning process is so important. And I am pleased to see that here in the North Wessex Downs you are taking such a wide reaching approach to updating yours. It is vital that local communities are part of the process and understand and feel connected to actions taken to safeguard the Downs in the future.

State of the Natural Environment

• Natural England's recently published its State of the Natural Environment report confirms what we are hearing from our people on the ground across the country. Efforts to conserve the natural environment have worked, and continue to work, particularly when that effort - time and money - is carefully targeted.
• Over the last ten years the condition of our SSSIs has improved markedly - and I notice that you have over 60 here -, our agri-environment schemes have checked the decline of farmland birds, and restored and replanted thousands of kilometres of hedgerow and success stories such as the stone curlew show that species heading towards the exit door can be saved.
• I have talked already about your successes here with farmland birds and maintaining the distinct and special characteristics of this landscape.
• But there is increased pressure on land for housing, for food, for energy and for leisure, tourism and recreation, and our population continues to grow. As the impact of climate change begin to bite, it is clear that a new more joined up approach is needed to ensure that England's natural wealth is not squeezed into every shrinking areas.
• This approach must focus on taking action on a large scale or a landscape scale, connecting and restoring landscapes and habitats AONBs are well placed to do this.
• It must bring people and nature back together again and crucially it must embed conservation of the natural environment into all areas of public policy. But more of that in just a moment, however before that a plea from Natural England.
• We need a robust evidence base so that we can demonstrate to government and other funding partners that actions we take are making a real difference on the ground.
• We are therefore seeking to put in place a more refined evidence base on the condition of landscapes and changes in landscape character.
• And we think that a common monitoring framework and indicators for protected landscapes (National Parks and AONBs) should be put in place so evidence is readily available to demonstrate the positive contribution that these landscapes make.

The current situation

• The good news from within protected areas is not mirrored in the wider natural environment. Our report shows that our natural environment is not well placed to withstand today's challenges.
• For example while we are maintaining the character of many of England's landscapes, 20% still show signs of neglect.
• And the situation within our landscapes is of more concern. For instance, nationally lack of woodland management is causing a 50% decline of our native woodland butterflies - the wood is still there but the butterflies aren't.
• Other habitats are also deteriorating - for example only 3% of our remaining grasslands remain rich in the native plants you have here like gentians and orchids.
• In brief the natural world is increasingly under threat, it has less diversity and less local distinctiveness than in the past, with much more homogenous agricultural businesses.
• Nationally arable land is now much poorer in wildlife. There has been a substantial decline in the distribution of arable flowering plants, with seven species going extinct. And while the farmland bird index has stabilised, it has settled at level considerably lower that it was 50 years.
• That's why places like the North Wessex Downs are so important - here diversity and distinctiveness has been maintained. And if more land were managed as it is here that diversity could again begin to spread and recolonise former ranges.
• Quality landscapes like this are also vital for wildlife as to allow it to move and with a life time, at least, of climate change ahead of us they will become ever more important as networks for wildlife to use.
• So the state of the natural environment does not, as some have interpreted it, do down the efforts of those farmers and landowners who make massive contributions to conserving the natural environment - quite the opposite it shows that where action is taken, or farming schemes are joined in large numbers across a landscape or habitat as has happened here in the North Wessex Downs that you have landscapes, habitats and the wildlife, the farmland birds that have disappeared from other parts of the country.
• What it means it that we have to extend the reach of our schemes and better target the resources to make sure that we see real improvements on the ground.
• As I have already said around 50% of the North Wessex Downs are already in agri-environment schemes, or about 400 farmers have their land under agreement with Natural England - bringing between £20 and £25 million into the area.
• These schemes reward farmers and other land managers for conserving and enhancing the countryside, providing a range of public benefits - natural resource protection, the provision of public access to the natural world, environmental education, biodiversity conservation and help in adapting to and mitigating against the impacts of climate change.
• One of Natural England's priorities in the coming year is to argue for a reformed Common Agricultural Policy, in which direct payments are phased out but payments for positive environmental management are increased to meet the true scale of the environmental challenges that face us.
• There is a strong case for the £2 billion/year that land managers and farmers currently receive from the public purse to buy more of these services - with the most environmentally sustainable land management receiving the greatest financial reward.
• We are currently reviewing Environmental Stewardship schemes to enable us to better target the £2.9 billion of taxpayers' money that funds the schemes to help maintain the diversity and local distinctiveness of our landscapes and wildlife, and to help people and nature adapt to climate change. Priorities will include: locking-in carbon; soaking up excess rainwater to prevent flooding and connecting existing landscapes and wildlife habitats.
• Our targeting maps, which are soon to be published, identify areas of particular concern or interest, and at a time of high food prices it gives us the option to further incentivise farmers and land managers for providing public benefits in these high-value areas.
• And that is why farmers and land managers plays such an important role. The natural environment in rural England depends on the continuation and expansion of many good land management practices, which in turn support the long-term financial viability of the rural communities.
• Our targeting maps will be launched in the autumn. Without giving too much away, the high quality natural environment found here in the North Wessex Downs does not go unrecognised!

Broadening the appeal

• I mentioned earlier that part of the approach needed to address the challenges facing our natural environment is the need to bring people and nature back together again and crucially to embed conservation of the natural environment into all areas of public policy.
• To paraphrase what we need is not so much a nation of beauty spots, but a nation of beauty.
• Our major challenge is to reach out beyond the usual suspects and start to reconnect with the majority of the population who have lost touch with the natural world. Farmers, conservationists and environmentalists all have a vested interest in helping people to understand the work that we do, and to inspire people to come to love the natural environment as those of us working in the sector do.
• We need to reach out beyond our sector to policy and decision makers in local authorities, government departments, local communities, and business.
• The state of the natural environment matters to everyone in this country. It is not an added extra; it provides a wide range of services on which we all depend such as clean air, clean water and productive soils, carbon storage, natural flood management, and a natural health service. As well as the more spiritual and aesthetic qualities of beauty and tranquillity on which the AONB movement was founded.
• We have seen then the scale of the challenge that faces us - both to ensure that the special qualities of the North Wessex Downs are never lost, and to inspire more people to learn about, enjoy and take action to help the natural environment.
• The importance of AONBs in rising to these challenges means that we have prioritised funding for AONBs, during what are difficult times financially both in government and now in the wider economy. We have had to find £8million of savings this year - and have had to take some hard choices about where to make the cuts.
• Despite this we have listened to individual AONBs and the National Association of AONBs (NAAONB) in their pleas for greater security of funds.
• We have committed to 3 year settlement of funds to make planning much easier for all and allow more progressive project activity to be safeguarded.
• In future we want to push this further by introducing greater flexibility into funding- a single grant will be offered with no set core, Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) and Project allocations.
• We want to set you free to demonstrate how best to conserve and enhance this special landscape for the communities that live here, the people who visit and the rich and diverse wildlife that has also made this place its home.

Conclusion

The need to reconnect people and nature

• A healthy natural environment is the key to solving many of the problems that confront us in the 21st century.
• 80% of the population live in our towns and cities, largely separated from the natural world and deprived of the benefits that it brings by poor design and lack of investment in urban green spaces.
• That why initiatives like the Swindon urban fringe development that the North Wessex Downs unit has been so involved with are so important - helping to reconnect the urban majority with the natural world.
• A healthy natural environment near to where people live, designed and maintained by communities can offer solutions to many of the social problems of modern life.
• Contact with nature boosts people's physical and mental health. 'Green' (outdoor) exercise, which is free, reduces obesity and is shown to reduce heart disease, blood pressure and diabetes - among England's most common medical problems.
• Part of your challenge then, as part of a network of landscapes designated for their national importance, is to continue to reach out beyond your boundaries and help reconnect more people with the beauty of these rolling hills, and help people understand the work that goes into helping them flourish.
• Let us all then continue to make the case for the natural environment - passionately and persuasively and armed with shed loads of evidence to policy shapers, decision makers, businesses and communities across the country.