Rewilding UK, a public-backed campaign group, has warned the government that scrapping the rewilding programme will damage efforts to tackle the climate and nature crises and damage the future of agriculture and food production.
The group has written an open letter to Environment Minister Ranil Jayawardena, signed by dozens of landowners and farmers involved in rewilding projects on their lands, urging him to immediately implement the new The “Environmental Land Management Plan” (ELM) as it is intentional.
Concerns have been raised that the government is considering abandoning or limiting the implementation of the Elms scheme covering England, which was spearheaded and worked for several years by Michael Gove as environment secretary.
scale
The elm subsidy will replace the EU’s agricultural subsidy system, which pays mainly on the basis of arable land.
The new scheme aims to use taxpayer dollars to pay farmers for public goods such as wildlife restoration, clean air and water, and healthy soil – which green groups say could also ensure future food production.
In addition to paying for sustainable agricultural practices such as managing soils, Elms also aims to pay for “landscape restoration” projects, including rewilding programs, for the creation of “local nature restoration” habitats on farms and for large-scale restoration of nature.
Rewilding projects – which focus on restoring natural processes to the point where nature can take care of itself – have come under fire from some quarters for taking away land from food production.
But the letter from Rewilding British said it was widely believed that producing food and protecting nature went hand in hand.
dilution
In a letter to Mr Jayawardena, Rewilding British warned: “The current uncertainty surrounding Elm’s future – from the abandonment of the scheme to the moratorium on reviews and concerns about long delays – has caused our own and millions of people across the country, Including large numbers of farmers, actively supporting aggressive action to address natural and climate emergencies.
“Delaying or diluting the natural recovery opportunities offered by the elm would represent a significant missed economic opportunity, causing damage to the environment and the future of agriculture and food production, and potentially undermining confidence in the most important environmental policy of England’s generation.”
The group said rewilding projects across the landscape, which increased employment and volunteering opportunities, were “the most important, cost-effective and sustainable way” to help nature restore and reverse wildlife collapse.
support
Programs to restore wetlands and rivers and regenerate woodlands and wildlife-rich grasslands can also create carbon dioxide storage, reduce flooding, and increase resilience to wildfires in the face of climate change.
The letter argues that there is “overwhelming” public support for reversing the natural decline.
Rewilding British said its network of nearly 900 members, with projects totalling more than 74,000 hectares (180,000 acres), was demonstrating economic and social benefits and promoting biodiversity.
Many members of the Rewilding Network have participated in the Elm Project Landscape Restoration pilot and are working on Local Nature Restoration through existing agreements.
In the letter, Rewilding UK chief executive Rebecca Wrigley and director Alastair Driver urged that they need to pay for public goods to continue their efforts to restore nature and “Great job” done by green jobs.
Firm
“We need to roll out the Elm plan quickly and make it ambitious for our rural economy and nature,” they said.
The environment ministry said the government was not scrapping elms, but looking at how best to deliver them and where improvements could be made, given the pressure farmers are facing due to the global economic situation, including soaring costs.
Mr Jayawardena said: “Environmental, agricultural and economic growth go hand in hand and we are committed to supporting our farmers’ plans to produce quality food and improve the natural environment.
“We are committed to halting natural decline by 2030 and pursuing growth without undermining our obligations to the environment.”
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Pennsylvania environment reporter Emily Beament
