Health of natural environment is vital to ensure food security
Wednesday 24th February 2010
The Wildlife Trusts welcome this link, made in today’s Conservative farming agenda
The UK’s food security is inextricably linked to the health of its soils, water and wildlife. This assertion – which has been strongly backed by The Wildlife Trusts - is made in A New Age of Agriculture: Our Agenda for British Farming, launched today by the Conservative party at the National Farmer’s Union Conference.
Farmers are one of The Wildlife Trusts’ most important partners in achieving their vision for A Living Landscape across the UK, where wildlife thrives, not just in isolated nature reserves, but in habitats which have been created, restored and connected across rural, urban and agricultural areas.
The Wild Penwith Living Landscape scheme is one example which illustrates the value of The Wildlife Trusts’ work with farmers to both the natural landscape and the farming industry. Cornwall Wildlife Trust is working with local farmers to advise on how they can adapt their practices to improve the water quality on the wetlands surrounding their land. Meanwhile, in the west midlands, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is hosting Farming Floodplains for the Future, a major national pilot project funded by Defra. The key aim of this project is to develop an understanding of how the farmed landscape can be viably managed in ways that reduce flood risk downstream, while also enhancing the natural environment.
“In order to make A Living Landscape a reality, we need to be working on a large landscape scale, with farmers and landowners.” Says Paul Wilkinson, Head of A Living Landscape for The Wildlife Trusts. “Farmers are experienced land managers and traditional stewards of our countryside, so our work with them is a vital element to the achievement of our vision.
“Farmland plays a crucial role in keeping our soils, water, and wildlife healthy, and it’s a two-way relationship - if none of these things are healthy, we simply cannot grow food. So wildlife-friendly farming is of benefit to farmers and the general public too.
“The Wildlife Trusts are delighted this relationship has today been recognised. We will continue to work with farmers to try and restore our battered ecosystems, for the benefit of wildlife and people.”
Story by RSWT