During the 20th Century, we lost 90% of lowland grasslands in England, mainly due to arable conversion and agricultural intensification.
We were starting to turn this around in recent years. Through the UK Government’s environmental land management offer, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship, farmers received financial support to restore and manage these precious habitats.
Recent announcements on SFI, although positive in other areas, dropped a vital action that provided the finance farmers needed to recover our meadows. Without remedy, this could become a missed opportunity for farmers and nature recovery, and see grassland habitat recovery stall.
The re-opening of SFI: a positive step forward for farmers and nature
At the recent National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds announced the long-awaited reforms and reopening details on the sustainable farming incentive schemes.
We're pleased to see the reopening of SFI with reforms including a temporary agreement cap which should allow more farms to access support and do more for nature. This is a positive step forward in continuing government support for sustainable farming practices.
These changes come shortly after the Government’s national security assessment, which highlighted that our declining biodiversity is putting at risk the ecosystem services on which we all depend, including water, food, clean air and critical resources. Protecting nature isn’t just good for wildlife, it’s vital for all of us.
If we are going to improve our biodiversity, farmers need consistent and reliable support across all Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. This will allow farms of all sizes and types to be supported to take actions that benefit nature.
There is a risk to species-rich grassland
The changes to SFI saw actions drop from 102 to 71 actions. One significant change has been the removal of endorsed action GRH6 species-rich grassland. This action had supported restoration of our beautiful meadows, botanically diverse habitats home to our native flowers, critical pollinators and rare species which covers less then 1% of the UK. It is a jarring, worrying development from the positive re-opening of the SFI.
Our meadows may be small but they’re mighty. The numbers of butterflies and breeding birds, such as curlew and lapwing, that depend on these meadows continue to decline. Unimproved grassland supports many rare and beautiful species. This includes orchids, snake’s-head fritillary, waxcap fungi and blue butterflies.
Many farmers have been working tirelessly to undo the damage. But restoring species-rich meadows is a lot of work and the removal of the financial support will see these efforts unsupported. Farming is a business and they need the advice and financial support to restore these habitats.
Countryside Stewardship alone isn't enough
DEFRA will be keen to point out that, even with the SFI action removed, farmers could apply for species-rich actions in Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. However, applying through Natural England whose resources focus on the more complex schemes, means they may not be able to cater to the now added workload of smaller, single action agreements.
It’s exciting to see a growing number of farmers wanting to restore these habitats. Alongside the expiring mid-tier schemes, they were reliant on an SFI species-rich grassland action and now may be left without support. The demand for species-rich grassland support is clear. To make sure the SFI changes do not lead to halted grassland restoration, the Government must commit to:
- A greater budget allocation to ensure the three ELM schemes can deliver what's needed for nature's recovery, climate resilient farming and our food security;
- A scaling-up of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier to meet the growing interest;
- A system which works with smaller grassland applications to ensure they do not fall through the cracks;
- Better resource allocation at Natural England to increase the availability of free advice for farmers, providing greater access to CS HT.
With the right support, farmers can continue the essential work of restoring these precious places and give nature a chance to recover.