Get nature-friendly farming ‘right’ to meet legal green goals, watchdog warns

The Government should “put the wind in the sails” of landscape-wide nature-friendly farming schemes to meet key environment targets, a watchdog has warned.

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) said progress on improving the natural environment had slowed under the last government, and Labour had not yet done enough to get back on track to meet legal commitments.

The OEP called for action to deliver nature-friendly farming schemes, a focus on agricultural pollution of rivers as well as sewage, and improving the condition of the seas, including by halting damaging activities in marine reserves.

It also wants to see more investment in designating, monitoring and managing protected sites, the development of land use plans, mobilising of private investment, more effective regulation, and greater engagement with the public on improving the environment.

The OEP has released an assessment of progress under the last government, from April 2023 to March 2024, which found it was “largely off track” to meet goals such as halting declines in nature and water quality in England, with progress slowing compared with the previous year.

The watchdog’s chairwoman Dame Glenys Stacey said there were still opportunities for the new Government to get back on track, but warned it would require it to act “urgently and decisively” to meet looming targets such as halting declines in species by 2030.

She welcomed early moves by Labour, including ending the use of bee-harming pesticides, legislation targeting water companies, and revising the environmental improvement plan released under the Tories, which set out how the Government would deliver on its range of environmental targets and goals.

But she warned: “All that has been said and done so far is not enough.”

A key recommendation of the report is to “get nature-friendly farming right”, warning it is essential that the Government strengthens engagement with farmers and increases uptake in the more environmentally ambitious parts of the new land management scheme which has replaced EU subsidies.

The watchdog’s chief insights officer Professor Robbie McDonald pointed to North Norfolk, where landowners from big estates to family farms and smallholdings were working together to develop and implement nature-friendly landscape recovery projects.

Prof McDonald said: “Anything that the Government can do to put the wind in the sails of these kind of initiatives, landscape recovery and building networks of farmers to deliver nature’s improvement at a landscape scale, is top of the list.”

“There aren’t any quick wins, because it takes the environment time to recover,” he said, but added: “For the biodiversity target only being in 2030, it’s important that those sort of actions are the ones that are prioritised.”

Asked if she was concerned that farmers lacked confidence in the Government in the wake of the Budget, Dame Glenys said: “We can see that with tractors in the streets of Westminster, Oxford and elsewhere, relationships are at a low ebb, but so much is at stake.

“We would say that we depend very much now on those that drive tractors, they must also drive change for the environment,” she said, adding that it was not a straight choice between nature and food production and that getting nature-friendly farming right was key to delivering environmental goals.

She said the OEP wanted to see large-scale take-up of the higher environmental land management schemes, and efforts to make sure the right things were done in the right places.

The report on progress to March 2024 warned that the government was largely off track to meet the overarching goal of ensuring England has thriving plants and wildlife.

In its assessment of progress towards 43 individual targets and commitments, the government was on track to meet only nine, partially on track to meeting 12, and largely off track to meeting 20, such as in improving freshwater and marine environments.

In light of high public concern over the state of rivers, lakes and seas, the OEP also flagged a lack of action to address other sources of pollution beyond the water industry, and physical modifications such as channels and weirs in waterways.

The report said actions enabling farmers to reduce pollution from agriculture – such as fertilisers and manure – and increase wildlife-rich waters were essential.

Dame Glenys said prospects were not fixed, with opportunities for the new Government to get on track.

She added: “But with each passing month, the window of opportunity to redress environmental harms is closing, while the effort needed and cost to do so increases.

“This Government must act urgently and decisively to catch up, if it is to meet its legal obligations.

“Catch up not just by developing plans, but then by fully and effectively implementing them.”

Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN), said: “The OEP’s assessment is a timely reminder that ambitious nature-friendly farming schemes are absolutely vital to meet our environmental and climate targets.

“They’re also key financial lifelines for farmers, who are best placed to do the heavy environmental lifting required.”

He said food production could not be separated from the environment and said the Government could make headway with environmental targets and the farming community – whose confidence was at an all-time low – by continuing to invest in the agricultural transition.