Farmers want to help wildlife and the vast majority believe that wildlife conservation is an integral part of their farming system according to two surveys conducted by The Voluntary Initiative. However, Caroline Spelman has been unable to make the same assurances for her own department, following questions over whether the cabinet office plans to do away with environmental regulation.

The Voluntary Initiative surveys found that 86 per cent of farmers agree that environmental management and wildlife conservation are important parts of their farm management.  However, farmers appear not to accept the evidence of farmland bird declines from national surveys. Only 10 per cent of farmers interviewed believe farmland birds, such as lapwings and skylarks, have declined in their area, whereas 52 per cent thought they had increased.

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Similar results were found for populations of butterflies and bumblebees. Roughly half of the farmers who thought that farmland birds had declined accepted that it was because of changes in farming practice. The others thought that declines were due to predation, disturbance or loss of farmland to development.

Speaking about the Voluntary Initiative survey, Richard Winspear, RSPB agricultural adviser and chairman of the VI biodiversity group, said, "The surveys show that farmers really do want to do their bit for wildlife but they do not always notice the declines or the reasons for the declines. Clearly we need to explain this better.

"The results of this survey provide a focus for the VI and other initiatives, like the Campaign for the Farmed Environment, to help farmers and advisers understand what they can do to increase populations of wild birds and other wildlife indicators."

Spelman avoids questions over unpopular red tape challenge

However, when facing questioning from Joan Walley and Green MEP Caroline Lucas of the Environmental Audit Committee, Defra chief Caroline Spelman refused to confirm or deny whether her department had discussed doing away with the vast majority of environmental regulation. As part of its 'red tape challenge' it is thought that Oliver Letwin has proposed reducing thousands of pages of environmental regulation to just 50, which is causing serious consternation amongst environmentalists across the party divide.  

Under sustained questioning on Wednesday from MPs on the audit committee, including Ms Lucas and Conservative Zac Goldsmith, who spoke of the level of concern over Mr Letwin's proposals, Ms Spelman finally admitted, "I am not in a position to confirm or deny the story. I was not at the meeting."

She said the object of the red tape challenge is to, "[Make] sure that you protect the purpose for which the regulation was put in place, but relieve the regulation where it's a duplication or where there is any gold-plating, to relieve the burden on business," which appears to directly contradict her department's claims that Britain should be seeking new export markets, where British goods are highly desirable due to their reputation for quality and impeccable animal welfare standards. Doing away with 'gold-plating' would severely undermine this position.

Speaking after the Audit Committee meeting, Caroline Lucas Lucas said, "I don't know which is more worrying - the fact that Letwin has reportedly proposed slashing all environmental guidance so it fits into a 50-page document, or that the secretary of state for the environment appears to have had no knowledge of it. If the red tape challenge is to be a genuinely consultative process, the government must listen to what the vast majority of people responding to the consultation are actually saying - that they value laws to uphold environmental protection, and do not want to see them ripped up."

The environmental regulation which Mr Letwin aims to strip down covers not only provisions for wildlife, but also noise, air pollution, water pollution, biodiversity and industrial discharges. The calls have been criticised as unpopular and distasteful, coming as they do in the advent of the Rio+20 summit at which world leaders are expected to discuss a paradigm shift away from merely financial consideration and towards gaining a more holistic view of the issues facing the world's growing population and the wider environment.

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