OFC 2023: Farmers need ‘vision, clarity and detail’ over ELM

Reversing the decline in Britain’s biodiversity will be a major challenge for both the government and farmers following the COP15 deal signed in Montreal, Canada, last month.

The new international treaty, signed by almost 200 countries, includes an agreement to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.

It also includes provisions for significant reductions in agricultural run-off and a halving of the risk from pesticides.

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Jake Fiennes, director of conservation at the Holkham Estate in Norfolk, told a Farmers Weekly Transition dinner at this week’s Oxford Farming Conference on Wednesday 4 January that farmers would need “absolute clarity” from the government on how the targets would be achieved.

“Farmers have already seen their chemical toolbox reduced over time to protect biodiversity, from DDT to neonicotinoids, but there also needs to be rewards for producing in a way that complements the wider environment,” he said.

“The path is clear, we need to invest in the future, not for our short-term gain, but for the benefit of future generations. If the UK is to maintain our level of self-sufficiency at about 60%, we also need a land use strategy that is truly integrated.”

According to the final COP15 text, countries have agreed to reduce pollution risks and their negative effects by 2030 “to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystems, considering cumulative effects”.

This includes “reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half, including through integrated pest management”.

The move mirrors the EU’s flagship food policy, the Farm to Fork strategy, which also sets out the ambition to see the use and risk of pesticides halved by 2030.

For the UK, these new objectives will likely be built into the emerging Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes, which will pay farmers and landowners for “public goods” such as clean water, wildlife habitats, healthy soils and access to the countryside.

Mr Fiennes says the time has come for government to provide “vision, clarity and detail” on what the new policy will look like.