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Some conservationists wake up to the fact that
"environmental" agendas may
not be good for conservation
Editorial
Filed 13 Jul 05
©www.land-care.org.uk
The English uplands are facing a bleak future,
according to The National Trust (1). Surprise,
surprise: this is a consequence of the reform of the Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP), whereby farm subsidies are decoupled from production
and focussed instead on what are claimed to be "environmental"
and "consumer" issues.
More specifically, The National Trust states:
"New research by the National Trust highlights that hill
farming is on the brink of a rapid, and unmanaged collapse, without
help through the major changes it faces"
The National Trust looks after some 150,000 hectares
of land in upland areas and research across 60 of its tenanted hill
farms suggests that the majority of upland farms in England are
facing severe falls in income. The separation of support payments
from agricultural production has exposed the stark reality that
livestock farming in the hills simply is not profitable and in many
cases will be a loss making exercise.
"Under the new system hill farmers will not
have to keep livestock in order to receive their CAP payments
and there is a real risk that we will lose the grazing animals
which are vital for the management of some of our most spectacular
landscapes and wildlife"
The National Trust
From the Lake District to the Yorkshire Dales,
the uplands are dependent on livestock farming to maintain their
character and wildlife. The loss of hill farming would have a severe
impact upon vast tracts of some of England's most famous landscapes.
The Trust warns that:
"if help is not not provided quickly, the tourism and environmental
benefits of upland land management could be permanently lost"
In England the way DEFRA has chosen to dispense
the Single Farm Payment moneys under the CAP reform arrangements
differs from that in Scotland. Thus the net farm income in the Lake
District depends on the type of land that is farmed, and whether
that includes large areas of fell/moorland or not. Generally those
with large areas of fell land (referred to as 1st and 2nd column)
are not as badly hit as those with smaller land areas as they will
receive larger area payments in the future through CAP.
In its Press Release already referred to, The
National Trust goes on to say:
"The retirement of a farmer in the Lake District for example,
led us to carry out analysis which demonstrated there was no viable
economic future for the farm. As a consequence the land will be
split up between the neighbouring farms and the house will be
let separately. The loss of farm units such as this is an increasingly
common occurrence and raises a number of concerns over how land
will be managed to optimise public benefits in the future"
But the farm in the Lake District referred to
was presumably High Yewdale Farm at Coniston, part of the Beatrix
Potter legacy to the National Trust. She believed by leaving the
farm to the Trust that the character of hill farming, which she
so loved, would be preserved. Instead, the National Trust broke
it up to the fury of many (2).
This raises a number of issues.
1. When the CAP was being reviewed The National
Trust was vociferous, along with other conservation bodies, in attacking
farming in terms of the damage they claimed that farming was doing
to the "environment". Specifically, The National Trust
argued that farm subsidies based on production led to overgrazing
(3). Was the overgrazing argument overplayed
so as to gain control over more land by conservation bodies? Surely
a body such as The National Trust, which boasts that it owns so
much land - 150,00 hectares of it in upland areas of England - should
have been able to foresee what would happen to the economics of
upland farming when arguing that farm subsidies should change from
production to environmental issues. Now The National Trust sounds
off alarm bells that for economic reasons "there is a real
risk that we will lose the grazing animals which are vital for the
management of some of our most spectacular landscapes and wildlife".
In making this statement the Trust clearly acknowledges the major
contribution that farming has made to maintaining these landscapes
without the intervention of so-called conservationists with their
unbalanced perspectives. Indeed organisations such as The National
Trust would have us believe that the way forward is to alter the
genetics of farmed animals on upland areas that they become decorative
conservation tools, rather than part of the food chain.
2. The National Trust, and other such bodies,
own far too much land without having the expertise - or indeed the
interest - to manage it in a balanced manner (4).
3. The National Trust and other such bodies -
such as Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) - are the new big landlords
(either through direct ownership or through control mechanisms).
They are gaining a worse reputation than their predecessors were
alleged to have for their lack of regard for the local folk who
have looked after the land so well and for so long (5).
©www.land-care.org.uk
References
1. National Trust (2005). English
uplands facing bleak future: National Trust calls for measures to
help hill farming through major change.
See Press Release 6th July 2005 http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk
2. Irvine, James (2005). Fury
with the National Trust as to plans to break up historic farm in
the Lake District
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 29 Jan 05, www.land-care.org.uk
Click
Here to View
3. National Trust (1999). Towards
a new direction for UK agriculture.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/environment/html/land_use/papers/agri1/htm
4. Editorial (2005). National
Trust acquires another farm: this time in Wales. But do they know
how to look after it?
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 02 Feb 05,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
5. Robertson, Liz
(2004). SNH and the Isle of Arran. A case study presented at the
People Too conference "Who governs rural Scotland" Perth,
29th October 2004.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 19 Nov 04,
www.land-care.org.uk Click
Here to View
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