A coalition of farming, wildlife and environment charities have presented a vision for sustainable agriculture in the UK.

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• Long-term planning for the environment and wildlife to be made a feature of future environment and wildlife policies;
• The ‘true value’ of the natural environment to be recognised, to guide better resource use;
• Public money (including CAP funds) to be distributed in ways that benefit society and the environment;
• Better regulation to protect against pollution on land and in water;
• An appropriate response to climate change, including better preparedness and moves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the land-based sectors;
• Moves to restore aquatic and farmland habitats to full health

Commenting on Tuesday, Link’s Director, Dr Elaine King, said,  “Farming and water are so closely linked.  We therefore want the Government to take an integrated approach to ensuring that our land and water can provide us with life’s essentials: healthy food, clean drinking water, protection from flooding, secure livelihoods and access to beautiful green and blue spaces with thriving nature.”

In a statement made at the release of the two publications, Farming Fit for the Future and Water Matters, the chairs of Link’s working groups said they look forward to opening a dialogue with government and the farming industry. The papers were launched at an event in parliament on Tuesday, which featured speeches from Conservative MP and environmentalist Zac Goldsmith and Defra secretary Liz Truss.

Speaking at the event in Parliament, the Defra secretary said, “One of the great concerns I have is that we have as a country lost touch with nature, with the countryside, with where our food comes from.”

She said that Defra is in the process of developing “A long-term approach to the environment” and added “I want to make sure everybody is engaged in building that approach in looking at how we do things, whether it is on water, whether it is on land, whether it is air quality.”

Also commenting on Tuesday, Graeme Willis, senior food and farming campaigner at the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, which is one of the groups in the Link coalition, said, “There is no better time for an open and honest conversation about what is needed to put farming and nature on a long term sustainable footing.

“We know that a healthy, prosperous farming industry is critical to the restoration of our natural environment. Equally, all should recognise that a healthy natural environment is essential for farming, not least so it can be productive, resilient and can face the numerous and difficult challenges ahead”.

Graeme continued, “The Government’s plans are at an early stage but this is an opportunity for it to commit to integrating its plans for nature and farming and to develop a genuinely joined-up framework, one that Defra is given the powers to enforce across Government. In a climate of continued austerity and with severe cuts across many departments, it makes absolute sense to examine how public funds and public policy, fair regulation, tax and incentives, research and education can all be put to work to build a food and farming system that can restore nature, protect natural capital and underpin the prosperity of rural livelihoods for a very long time.”