Defra secretary Andrea Leadsom has restated the government’s commitment to producing a long-term plan for the environment, and said that Brexit represents an opportunity for conservation. The environment secretary was speaking at the launch of the State of Nature report in London.

The report, which was compiled by a coalition of wildlife groups and research organisations, shows that over half of 8,000 species of wildlife and plants resident in the UK are in decline, with more than one in ten of the land and freshwater species at risk of disappearing from these shores. It also states that policy-driven changes in agriculture (which accounts for more than 70% of land use in the UK) is the leading factor in species declines, though climate change and habitat loss due to planning developments are also having an effect.

The NFU leadership dismissed the findings on Wednesday, but the environment secretary said in her speech, “With three quarters of our landmass farmed, how we manage our farmland is key to tackling the challenges we see in this report. It is clear our wildlife still feels the impact today from the significant changes we saw in the 1970s and 1980s in the way that land was managed and used.”

However, she went on, “We are making progress. Investment and working in partnership is delivering improvements, with careful management helping to turn around the fortunes of birds like the tree sparrow, cirl bunting and stone curlew.

“Farmers have reduced agricultural run-off and other pollution to ensure, for example, that our iconic chalk streams continue to provide their rare and valuable habitats. Much of this has been achieved through support from environmental schemes like Catchment Sensitive Farming. We must now continue to work with farmers and environmental organisations, learning from their experience and their expertise, to secure further improvements to our habitats and wildlife.”

Since the Brexit vote, charities, research organisations and industry groups have offered their visions for farming policy. In her speech at the Royal Society on Wednesday, Leadsom said, “The decision to leave the EU means, of course, that we have the opportunity to look again at the ways we work with farmers and landowners to improve our environment.”

Government maintains commitment to environment plan

She said “Connecting people with nature [and] developing a long-term plan for the environment” are central to the government’s vision, and praised the report for laying out the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for anyone hoping to reverse environmental decline in the UK. She raised the issue of the government’s 25 year plans - which were promised by previous environment secretary Liz Truss, but have been delayed indefinitely.

In July, the government announced that it would not be publishing its 25-year Food and Farming Plan, or the accompanying 25-year Environment Plan, before the end of the year due to the outcome of the EU Referendum. Both plans were expected this summer, and though she restated the government’s commitment to producing the long-term plans Leadsom didn’t offer any new information on when they could be expected.

Even so, the Defra secretary said the government’s commitment to the environment has been evidenced by the ban on plastic microbeads from cosmetic products and the plastic bag charge. She made mention of “a new framework for nature” that stands to replace EU law as the UK negotiates its exit.

Greens want fundamental change in ag policy

Reacting to the report launch yesterday, Green MEPs called on the government to ensure that post-Brexit farm support is used to support environmentally sound approaches to farming. The Green Party said the State of Nature report “Exposes the extent to which current farming practices are driving a steep decline in British wildlife.”

Green MEPs have made written submissions to the Commons inquiry on The Future of the Natural Environment after the EU Referendum. In their response, three MEPs drew attention to the continued uncertainty surrounding the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and what comes after.

On Wednesday, Molly Scott Cato, MEP for the South West, member of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee, and the Green Party's spokesperson on EU relations, said, "The government has failed to outline its vision for British farming following the vote to withdraw from the EU. However, the suggestion that the UK might adopt a New Zealand-style agrarian free market model is very worrying. This would leave farmers increasingly vulnerable to market forces with one study suggesting only the largest 10% of farms would survive under such a model. It would lead to the intensification of agriculture, which would place greater strain on our soils and threaten animal welfare standards. Furthermore, as the EU’s 2015 State of Nature report identified, intensive agriculture is one of the leading causes of the current decline and degradation of nature."

“So the full-scale marketisation of the 70% of our land that is farmland must be resisted. As Wednesday's State of Nature report makes abundantly clear, it is imperative, for the livelihoods of farmers and the future of British wildlife, that any replacement subsidy scheme must encourage a transition away from intensive farming and giant agri-business towards an environmentally and ecologically sustainable small-scale farming system."

Keith Taylor, MEP for the South East, and a member of the European Parliament's Environment Committee, added, “As a country, we stand to lose a raft of laws that have, over several decades, been the last line of defence for the UK's wildlife and the natural environment."

"Farming is clearly in desperate need of reform, but without EU nature laws the scale of wildlife decline uncovered in today's State of Nature report would have been far greater. British conservation efforts have benefitted from the largest single body of environmental legislation in the world. In fact, the EU is responsible for about 80% of all environmental laws in the UK. These laws are driving positive conservation action. Protected wildlife sites were being lost at a rate of 15% a year before EU action; now that rate has fallen to just 1% a year."

“Wildlife and environmental issues were sidelined during the referendum campaign, but we cannot allow leaving the EU to be an excuse to erode the vital safeguards Leave campaigners maligned as ‘red tape’. As Greens, we are calling on the Government to commit to maintaining and strengthening current EU environmental protections.”