Conservationists Call for ‘Sustainable’ Farming Subsidies

THE current European subsidies for farmers should be replaced with a scheme that will pay for protection of the environment and “sustainable” food production, conservationists have said.

A coalition of environment groups called for direct payments to farmers under the current EU Common Agricultural Policy to be phased out because they are an “inefficient” way of ensuring sustainable agriculture.

Instead the money should be used to protect and restore wildlife, habitats, historic environment, landscape and woodlands and help tackle and adapt to climate change, the Wildlife and Countryside Link coalition said.

It should also go towards ensuring the sustainable use of water supplies and land, and to enabling animal welfare friendly and sustainable food production, the environmental groups urged.

They want to see funding for land management practices which minimise greenhouse gas emissions, manage river catchment areas to cope with flooding and allow wildlife to move in the face of a changing climate.

In a report Beyond the Pillars, the Wildlife and Countryside Link said the approach could help make sure taxpayers’ money supported profitable and prosperous rural businesses and communities.

The coalition, which includes the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Friends of the Earth, the RSPB, the National Trust and the RSPCA, is concerned that unless the CAP is transformed funding to protect the environment will dry up.

The group pointed to the European Commission proposal to divert unspent money from the CAP to the Galileo space programme.

Under the currently policy, there are two “pillars” or streams of funding – direct farm payments which make up a large majority of the billions the CAP provides, and a “rural development” pillar.

The groups want to see the two parts of the CAP replaced with a single European Sustainable Land Management policy, targeted at those who look after their land in a environmentally sustainable way.

Those who do most to protect the environment, such as looking after habitats or species which have been prioritised for protection, should receive the most funding, the report suggests.

The Wildlife and Countryside Link said that despite recent CAP reform seeing the policy move away from supporting as much food production as possible even at the cost to the environment, farmers who want to look after the natural world were not given enough financial incentive.

The group said a new way of paying for environmental management was needed which produces enough food and protects the countryside.

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