Natural England

Twenty-one years of agri-environment schemes have seen farmers in Kent make a huge difference to wildlife and landscape across the county, Rural Affairs Minister Jonathan Shaw said today, on Open Farm Sunday.

Launching a campaign celebrating 21 years of the schemes today at an Open Farm Sunday event, Jonathan Shaw visited Bank Farm in Kent to see how their agri-environment agreements have brought a variety of wildlife back to the farm and enabled the land to flourish.

Over the coming months Defra and Natural England will be celebrating the success of these schemes to highlight the significant contribution they make to the conservation and protection of some of England’s most important landscapes and habitats.

Agri-environment schemes work by providing Government-funded financial support to farmers to manage and conserve the land with a focus on ‘green farming’ such as creating habitats for wildlife and to protect the English landscape.

Bank Farm, which has been in farmer Doug Wanstall’s family since 1918, has two agri-environment agreements which have had a significant impact on wildlife across his land. There are now lapwings nesting on the summer fallow land, a thriving colony of water voles on the River Stour, barn owls, kingfishers and many types of insects being attracted to the farm because of environmental land management practices adopted as part of the agreement.

Jonathan Shaw said:
“Three-quarters of our land is managed by farmers and landowners, and they are a vital part of continuing to enhance the beauty of the English landscape and conserve and protect our much-loved native wildlife. Farms like Bank Farm are a fantastic example of the real benefits that agri-environment schemes can bring. The schemes are open to all farmers and, with Government investment of almost £3billion over the next five years, we are committed to seeing this great work continue.”

Sir Martin Doughty, Natural England chair, said:
“Green farming schemes have resulted in some great success stories for wildlife and the health of our countryside over the past 21 years. These schemes not only make a major contribution to the UK’s commitments on farmland birds but they also help bring Sites of Special Scientific Interest into favourable condition. Natural England will continue its efforts to improve these schemes to find incentives that land managers buy into and farmers find attractive to bring more land into these agreements.”

Caroline Drummond, chief executive of LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) which co-ordinates Open Farm Sunday, said:
“The last 21 years have seen really positive changes for the environment and LEAF looks forward to continuing to work with Defra and Natural England to enrich biodiversity on farms and to encourage a stronger relationship between consumers and our countryside.”

Over five million hectares of land in England, an area roughly twice the size of Wales, are now covered by agri-environment schemes. The schemes have achieved:

• 30,000km of restored or newly planted hedgerows (with a further 90,000 km of existing hedgerows being managed in an environmentally friendly way)
• 2,600km of dry stone walls
• Increases in numbers of rare birds such as the grey partridge, stone curlew and cirl bunting
• 800 farms offering educational visits to more than 100,000 visitors and schoolchildren per year.

Peter Kendall, NFU President:
“Over the last 21 years, agri-environment schemes have created markets for “conservation as a crop”. With the next 21 years likely to be defined by the triple challenge of food, energy and environmental security, I believe that voluntary schemes that reward farmers for the provision of public goods and services have an important role to play in the English countryside.”

Peter Nixon, Director of Conservation, National Trust:
“Over the last two decades, agri-environment schemes have provided a real incentive to thousands of farmers to deliver positive countryside management and conservation work. Agri-environment schemes have been targeted at conserving and enhancing biodiversity, landscape features, historic sites and public access. These schemes have recognised the real costs of conservation and provided an opportunity for farmers to be rewarded, as least in part, for delivering conservation on the ground. New challenges such as managing land for carbon storage and clean water will need an ongoing commitment to develop agri-environment schemes and build on the valuable legacy to date.”

Sir Don Curry, chair Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy Delivery Group:
“A key theme of the 2002 Policy Commission report on the future of farming and food was the need for reconnection between the public and the farmer. As taxpayers and consumers, the public have a right to know how their money is spent on preserving the farmed environment which is part of their heritage. And farmers have a responsibility to share with the public the benefits of their care of the land. After 21 years of agri-environment schemes, providing incentives for farmers to care for our beautiful landscape and nurture biodiversity as part of their businesses, there is a lot to be proud of. But there is always more to be done, both in improving our environmental impact in a time of increasing pressures on land, and in communicating with the public the value we add.”

Lord Haskins, Chief Executive, Northern Foods:
"The natural environment in rural England depends upon the landscapes we enjoy, the wildlife around us, the quality of our water and the sustainability of our food. Agri-environment schemes have played a large part in improving standards in management across the countryside and will be even mort important in the future."

Graham Wynne, RSPB chief executive:
“Using agri-environment schemes, farmers have brought cirl buntings and corncrakes back from the brink of extinction in the UK. Now more than ever, we need to make sure farming produces not only food but a whole host of other things that society needs, such as wildlife, a stable climate, clean water and inspiring landscapes. Agri-environment schemes, and the farmers who have taken them up so creatively, show us how we can rise to some of the great environmental challenges of the next 21 years.”

Notes to editors

1. Details of agri-environment scheme access routes and farms open for educational visits can be found at http://countrywalks.defra.gov.uk

2. Open Farm Sunday is an annual event co-ordinated by LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), a charity set up in 1991 aiming to develop an environmentally sensitive system of farming. Open Farm Sunday aims to encourage people to re-connect with farming.

3. Agri-environment schemes are part of a coherent and integrated programme of joint investment by the Government and the EU through the Rural Development Programme for England. This programme recognises that rural economic development, environmental stewardship and community sustainability are intertwined.

4. In Kent there are 1,068 agri-environment schemes covering 128,865 hectares with funding totalling over £7.5million. Among the benefits of the Kent schemes have been 2,7000km of managed hedgerows, 2,360km of public access paths, 6,000 trees protected and wild bird seed mixture across 134 hectares to encourage wild birds to the area.

5. Bank Farm has been in the family since 1918 and Douglas Wanstall is the fourth generation farmer. The farm is a traditional mixed arable farm with a 19,000 free-range egg enterprise, for which it hold RSPCA Freedom Foods accreditation. The farm totals 2,400 acres, including 40 hectares of organic ground which is run with Douglas’ father and uncle. It has a balanced crop rotation, including winter wheat, oil seed rape, and barley to ensure that the soil is kept in good heart and a range of diversified enterprises, including a local food distribution business.

6. It currently has two Countryside Stewardship agreements. The first started in 1999 and concentrates mainly on 6m field margins around cereal fields and an area of arable reversion in an area of pond/wetland associated with a flood relief scheme on the East Stour river. The second agreement was set up in 2002 that focuses on arable options – conservation headlands, areas of over winterstubble and summer fallow. A third agreement has been set up on a neighbouring farm (Evegate Farm) where Mr Wanstall manages the arable land. This focuses on arable options as above, field margins and a permissive access route.

7. Agri-environment schemes have been welcomed by a range of wildlife, farming and countryside organisations.