Natural England

This summer, Suffolk celebrates 21 years of green farming which has seen local farmers make a huge difference to wildlife and the landscape.

The agri-environment schemes, which will be given nearly £3billion over the next five years, have seen an increase in access to the countryside, more wildlife and biodiversity, and greater maintenance of essential features of the British countryside such as stone walls and hedgerows.

Suffolk has over 1000 agreements, covering approximately 75,000 hectares in agri-environment schemes.

Examples of projects achieved in Suffolk in the last year are:

• 32 bridleways
• 11 farms offering educational access visits
• 45 footpaths
• 30 hedgerows
• 25 beetle banks

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment said:
"Over the last 21 years, farmers in Essex have been managing the land to enhance the beauty of the English landscape and conserve and protect our much-loved native wildlife. The English countryside doesn't look the way it does by accident, and all of us benefit from the footpaths, bridleways, orchard planting and hedgerow restoring which farmers carry out on our behalf through agri-environment schemes. Farmers deserve recognition and our thanks for what they have achieved. Over the next five years, the Government will invest almost £3billion in these schemes. We are absolutely committed to seeing this great work continue.”

Defra and Natural England are celebrating the success of these pioneering green farming 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.

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.”

Over 35,000 Environmental Stewardship agreements covering more than five million hectares of land in England, an area roughly twice the size of Wales, are now in place (together with 20,000 remaining classic scheme agreements covering a further 1 million hectares). The schemes have achieved:

• 30,000km of restored or newly planted hedgerows – that’s about the distance from the North Pole to the South Pole and halfway back again (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 schoolchildren per year, and other visits for special interest groups.

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Notes for 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. 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.
3. Agri-environment schemes have been welcomed by a range of wildlife, farming and countryside organisations:

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.”

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