EU - don't CUT the CAP budget

HLS funded field margin near Meopham, north Kent, June 2012

You'd be forgiven for thinking  that us humans don't really care much for the environment at the moment; that we've got it all figured out and have decided we can probably do without clean air, secure food supplies, healthy ecosystems and such like. The daily barrage of narrow-minded, destructive attempts at undermining our environment continued yesterday with the announcement that a vital part of the EU budget that funds and encourages wildlife-friendly farming across Europe is set to be slashed.

As part of the 'Pillar 2' funding stream of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), farmers are rewarded for employing sensitive, wildlife-friendly practices under such schemes as the Higher Level Stewardship. This scheme has evolved over recent years to advise farmers and landowners and ensure that money is spent on strictly observed and tailored practices, designed to enhance farming landscapes for biodiversity without compromising the needs of farmers to make a living. It has a massive role to play in the UK where farming landscapes have changed radically over the last hundred years, resulting in the loss or steep decline of countless species of flora and fauna. In the UK there are more than 58,000 agri-environment schemes, covering a total of over 6 million hectares of farmland! These schemes are an amazing achievement and vital to the continued conservation of our wildlife and the health of our environment as a whole. The announcement of a proposed 17-20% cut to this part of the EU agricultural budget therefore threatens to blow a hole through this and leave a vast shortfall that in current conditions will be nigh on impossible to make up.

Walking around the arable fields near my home town over the last few years, I have seen a number of positive changes to the environment. Several years ago, the local farmer installed a superb new hedgerow, several hundred metres long, filled with native plants and shrubs. A nice scrubby area has been allowed to regenerate in one corner of a field and this year, last time I looked, it appeared a sizeable weedy cover crop has been left to stand for the winter. As a result, this spring I saw and heard more corn buntings in the fields than ever before. I'm fairly sure several pairs of Linnet nested successfully and just a few weeks ago I spotted a pair of reed buntings in the area for the first time. In one corner of the field, mostly obscured by a tangled hedge, a little hand made sign makes reference to the fact that these changes have come about as a result of the HLS scheme. It's great to see this close to home and I hope the farmer is aware of these things. Cutting funds like this will see us take one step forward and two back. We stand to lose so much.

It was good to see the Wildlife Trust's statement today, as well as the many others. They suggest emailing David Cameron before next week's EU summit to make our voices heard. I know we're in financial dire straits at the moment but we can't afford to let this slip now. Worth it don't you think?

If you care about farmland birds or butterflies or bugs or sustainably produced food or just a nice walk in the countryside, email the Prime Minister through the RSPB campaign page - it only takes a minute! Or write your own. Don't cut the CAP budget!

Corn Bunting on telegraph wire, Isle of Sheppey, Kent, 2012