Executive Summary
Introduction
1. The Countryside Alliance is a membership-based organisation that works for everyone who loves the countryside and the rural way of life. We reflect the views and interests of 100,000 members and supporters who come from all walks of life and every part the United Kingdom.
2. We welcome this inquiry into the Government's 25 Year Environment Plan, and the opportunity to submit written evidence.
3. The Countryside Alliance welcomed the publication of the Plan on 11 January 2018. The Plan is ambitious, both in the number of policy areas it covers, and in attempting to provide a framework for environmental policy over the next quarter of a century. It will provide a useful benchmark for assessing action on the environment by this and future governments although further, and more detailed work, is required in key policy areas such as agriculture and fishing which must be the priority for the Government. As such, we welcomed the Government's consultation; Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit.
4. We recognise that the Plan provides a policy framework and much of the impact will be seen in the detail to follow which must be provided as soon as possible.
Ambition and Approach
5. The Countryside Alliance fully supports the objectives of the Plan, particularly "enhancing beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment" and seeing "thriving plants and wildlife", and we look forward to working with the Government to help achieve these aims.
6. The Plan "calls for an approach to agriculture, forestry, land use and fishing that puts the environment first". Whilst we support attempts to place the environment at the heart of government policy, it is equally important that the interests of people in rural communities are not overlooked nor the vital importance of food production and security. People are at the heart of delivering policy and it is disappointing that the relationship between rural communities and the natural environment has not been properly explored and recognised in the Plan.
7. The Plan is ambitious, both in the number of policy areas it covers, and in attempting to provide a framework for environmental policy over the next quarter of a century. However, in attempting to be as comprehensive as possible the Plan lacks detail about how the objectives are going to be delivered and by whom.
8. The countryside is a place of great beauty and a habitat for wildlife, but it is also a place of work and home to millions of people. The Government must acknowledge the vital role of people who farm, fish, and shoot in environmental work, and engage with them in delivering the objectives of the Plan. There must be better consultation on the implementation of the Plan than there was during its formation when there was no public consultation.
9. There is a section in the Plan on restoring vulnerable peatlands and the delivery of a new framework for peat restoration in England (p. 44). Whilst we welcome the recognition of the importance of peatland habitat, it is disappointing that there is no mention of the positive work already being done by grouse moor managers across the country to restore peat bogs. The North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Peatland Programme was awarded the Climate Change Award at the Durham Environment Awards 2015; their Management Plan for 2014-2019 recognises that "sound grouse moor management can contribute significantly to the conservation and enhancement of natural beauty." The 25 Year Environment Plan contains a commitment to publish an England Peat Strategy later this year and there must be an opportunity for those involved in the management of moorland, including grouse moor managers, to contribute to this work. No Government policy can succeed without the engagement of those on the ground.
10. There is a chapter in the Plan on recovering nature and enhancing the beauty of landscapes (p. 56) both of which are noble aims but there is little detail about who is going to deliver this. There is no mention of the fact that it is on land managed for shooting where you are likely to find the highest levels of biodiversity and many of our most endangered birds such as curlews, lapwings, and golden plover. The 25 Year Environment Plan contains a commitment to establish a Nature Recovery Network and this must seek to work with, and support, the good work already being done by gamekeepers and other land managers as well as identifying new opportunities.
11. There are many different conservationists and it is vital that the Government creates a policy framework that enables all of them to contribute their expertise and experience to
environmental work, while recognising that the first conservationists are those on the ground whose livelihoods depend on the environment.
12. The Government must work with all of those involved in the management of the countryside otherwise the aspirations for improvement of our natural environment will fail to become a reality. It is vital that delivery involves working with rural communities not imposing solutions on them.
13. We look forward to the findings of the Committee which we hope will influence the development of more detailed policies in each area of the Plan. We see the Plan as the start of a process and not an end in itself.