Biodiversity

Baroness Byford Excerpts

Wednesday 28th July 2010 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Byford]

My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lady Miller, who reminded us today of 10 years ago when we took the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill through this House, and of the many discussions we had on establishing a biodiversity action plan. I am grateful for the work that she and many others did with me at that time. It was a hugely important step. It was 10 years ago; it seems like only yesterday.

In paying tribute to those who have worked for a long time, it is 30 years since the Wildlife and Countryside Link formed. It issued a report recently which struck me, because it covered each year. If we look back over 30 years, we see how much change has taken place. I follow my noble friend Lord Selborne in saying that I am quite optimistic. There is a lot to be done, but there is greater awareness and understanding than there was even when we were discussing the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill 10 years ago.

I should declare my family interest and my many interests in farming organisations and in wildlife trusts. The Question asks what resources the Government will provide. It gave me great pleasure to look back on the few months for which this Government have been in being. We have had three major announcements. The noble Baroness, Lady Miller, referred to one of them. To take them in order, there was the recent announcement by the noble Lord, Lord Henley, about the establishment of Futurescapes, with the commitment to build partnerships with other environment groups, local communities, the private sector and government bodies. In doing that, it is hoped to learn from the major contributions made by others, including wildlife trusts, Living Landscapes initiatives and Natural England’s integrated biodiversity delivery areas. That was one mark straight away.

The second announcement, which may not be relevant today, was the Statement made in this House by the noble Lord, Lord Marland, on energy and waste. Farmers produce food and we use food, but there is also waste, and there is the question of how we use waste to help biodiversity in the long run. The delivery plan announced yesterday committed us to a comprehensive programme of appropriate financial support for renewable electricity and, as part of that, action to exploit the potential of renewable electricity from dedicated biomass, energy from waste and anaerobic digestion. That seems wide of the Question, but it is important. How we live and how we use our resources clearly has an effect on biodiversity. Only two days ago, on 26 July, the Secretary of State, Caroline Spelman, launched the environmental White Paper, An Invitation to Shape the Nature of England. It is an exciting paper and I hope that people participate in the consultation. Lastly, the noble Baroness mentioned CAP reform. That is too big an issue to cover in the time that I have today, but CAP reform has huge implications for biodiversity.

I now switch to the subject of farming organisations. Farmers land-manage more than 74 per cent of the land. The NFU, the CLA and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust work hard at improving conservation awareness on all farms. The Campaign for the Farmed Environment was launched nine months ago and applies to arable land. More recently, there was a launch about horticultural land. It deals with how intensively farmed land can be sympathetically used to help wildlife.

I turn to two other organisations. One is FWAG, of which the noble Baroness and my noble friend will be well aware. The second is LEAF, of which I am president. Here we are, 19 years on, with an organisation that was started to link the environment and farming together in ways that have developed in recent years. Its “Open Farm Sunday” is well known. More than 180,000 people visited farms on that day. It also runs the green box scheme and recently started the LEAF virtual farm walk, which is open to anyone to access from its site and is a very good way to encourage people to learn more about what happens on a farm. It also organises technical days and speak-outs.

The noble Baroness and my noble friend mentioned taking the message to people so they have a better understanding. I mention FACE, Farming and Countryside Education, which is an organisation that takes the message into schools. Many other groups help. The NFU does, as does the Women’s Food and Farming Union, but we need to do more to get the message out further and wider than is possible at the moment.

I turn to the third leg of my stool. We have government and the farming groups, so it is us as individuals in what we do as individuals and within our groups. I totally agree with my noble friend Lord Selborne that we are trying to work together for the benefit of all. I do not think this is a thing that government or farmers can do alone. Togetherness is the way to succeed. Knowledge exchange, to which I referred earlier, is hugely important. There are ways in which we can get to those who are not lucky enough to be out and about in the countryside or to know how their food is produced or where it comes from. I have mentioned one or two, but there are also school visits, farmers going to schools to help and holiday days where people can go out into the countryside. There is an enormous amount of work undertaken there.

Membership of wildlife groups and wildlife trusts is hugely important because not only does it teach people about what is going on in their local trust area, but it encourages them to take part. Any plans that we have that encourage people to feel part of it are hugely beneficial.

Lastly on that side, I turn to the buying power of individuals. We buy our food and can look at labels—the red tractor flag, a LEAF flag or an assured scheme—to know whether it comes from a recognised source. That tells us how that farmer is producing that food. We have power. I suspect it is a power that many of us do not really appreciate, but I am dreadful when I go shopping and look very carefully.

There are reasons for being optimistic, and there are individual ways in which we can help ourselves to benefit everybody. The noble Baroness posed us much more than a simple cash question. It is also a matter of commitment. This new Government have already shown that they are committed to looking at better ways to make biodiversity work in the widest sense. I am of the view that it is not just us on our own who can do it. I was particularly pleased when Caroline Spelman said in her formal announcement,

“I want to nail a particular myth: that economic gain”—

I pause here because farming must be productive and profitable—

“and environmental protection are incompatible, whereas they are actually inseparable. And all too often we decide that looking after our natural environment is something to be left solely to Government”.

I hope this debate proves that that is not true.