Th The Future of of Far arm an and En Environmental Support on - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SLIDE 1

Th The Future of

• f Far

arm an and En Environmental Support on Ex Exmoor

Update on Defra’s plans and our Test and Trial July 2020

SLIDE 2

A presentation in two parts:

• 1. What we know of Defra’s plans
• 2. Progress with our ‘Test and Trial’

SLIDE 3

Headline messages

Future support will be based on “Public payments for public goods”

Clean and plentiful water Clean air Protection from and mitigation of environmental hazards Mitigation of and adaptation to climate change Thriving plants and wildlife Beauty, heritage and engagement A new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, covering the following public goods:

SLIDE 4

Headline messages

ELM will be better than current schemes:

• Lighter-touch approach
• Giving land managers flexibility to create ‘land

management plans’ appropriate for their area

• Advantages:
• better value for money
• motivation – payment scales may motivate land

managers to do more

• flexibility – enables land managers to innovate and

adapt to their local circumstances"

SLIDE 5

The Government’s proposed timeline

SLIDE 6

ELM design principles

• At the core of the scheme will be a ‘Land Management

Plan’ prepared by each farmer / landowner, containing:

• Baseline survey including map and summary of the business
• The environmental outcomes and measures selected
• Defra recognizes the need for flexibility and a long-term agreement
• An important role for advisers selected by the farmer
• Increased local involvement in spatial prioritization –

guiding what happens where

• A new range of payments methodologies – not necessarily

based on ‘income foregone’

SLIDE 7

Defra’s proposed structure for ELM

Easy for all farmers to engage with Focus on encouraging environmentally sustainable farming and forestry practices Support for land managers to deliver locally targeted environmental outcomes Requiring locally planned spatial targeting, and favouring collaboration

Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3

Deliver landscape scale land-use change projects Meeting ambitious environmental commitments such as net zero carbon.

• Nutrient management (incl.

manure management)

• Pest management
• Livestock management
• Soil management
• Field margins (buffer strips)
• Field cover (cover crops)
• Water storage/efficient water

use

• Tree, shrub and/or hedge

planting and maintenance

• Habitat creation/restoration/

management

• Natural flood management
• Species management
• Rights of way, navigation and

recreation infrastructure

• Geodiversity and heritage

asset management

• Forest and woodland creation

/ restoration / improvement

• Peatland restoration
• Creation / restoration of

coastal habitats such as wetlands and salt marsh

SLIDE 8

Part 2 of the presentation Progress with our Test and Trial on Exmoor

SLIDE 9

Leading to

• 3. Setting payment levels and

modelling scheme impacts

Prepare natural capital GIS database

Research Design

Draw up spatial ELM priorities: landscape-scale heatmaps Assess natural capital values - literature review Recruit 25 case study holdings Farm visits #2: LMP choices. Test spatial priorities and payments Review existing spatial priorities and policies Engage with partners Analysis of natural capital by types of holding (5 x 1km2) Develop GUI for reviewing natural capital on indiv. holdings Farm visits #1: Test natural capital registers Define natural capital outcomes Farm visits #3: Model business consequences of LMP choices

LMP & DESIGN APPROACHES EXPERT KNOWLEDGE NATIONAL/LOCAL OBJECTIVES PAYMENTS ELIGIBILITY NOVEL MECHANISMS

Key: Colour of boxes relates to Defra’s six key research topics

• 4. Reporting of:
• Resources needed

for efficient delivery

• Suitable payment

values

• Definitions of

natural capital

• utcomes
• Environmental

consequences at landscape scales

• Economic impacts

& eligibility effects First draft of payment values

• 1. Quantifying Natural Capital as

the basis of Land Management Plans 2: Defining the outcomes that the ELM will deliver at a landscape scale

Workshops: Review spatial priorities and payment values

SLIDE 10

• 3. Setting

payment levels and modelling scheme impacts

Research Design

4. Report- ing to Defra’s ELM team

• 1. Quantifying

Natural Capital as the basis of Land Management Plans 2: Defining the

• utcomes that the

ELM will deliver at a landscape scale

SLIDE 11

Work completed / ongoing

• 1. Quantifying natural capital as the basis for Land

Management Plans

• Testing a form and maps on 25 farms showing what is there;
• Comparison of ‘natural capital’ on different types and sizes
• f farms; and
• Development of self-assessment score sheets to measure

natural capital condition and monitor progress

• 2. Defining ELM outcomes at a landscape scale
• Review of existing policies and best practice; and
• Work with sector groups to develop maps of spatial priorities

SLIDE 12

SLIDE 13

Natural capital assets Heather moorland

h1 10,585

n n n v

• Grass moorland

g1b6 2,467

n n v

• Blanket bog

f1a 2,523

n n n v n n n

• Dense scrub

h3 228

n

• v

v

• Maritime cliff and slopes

s2a 43

n n v v

• Sparsely vegetated land

S 859

v n v v

Unimproved acid grassland

g1 5,153

n n n v n n

• Unimproved neutral grassland

g3 981

n n n v n n

• Purple moor grass & rush pastures

f2b 397

n n n v n n

• Semi-improved permanent pasture

g4b* 447

• n

v v

• n
• Improved permanent pasture

g4a* 31,197

• v

v

• Temporary grass and clover leys

c1b 9

v v

• Arable and horticulture

c1 2,446

• v

v

Built-up areas and gardens

u1 438

v v

Broadleaved woodland

w1 7,967

n n n v n n n n

Coniferous woodland

w2 3,102

• n

v

• n

n n

Wood pasture and parkland

20

• n

n n v

• Traditional orchard

21 19

n n n v

• Line of trees

w1g6 n.r.

n n v

• n

Individual tree

1170 n.r.

n n v

• Hedgerows (metres)

h2

• n

n n

• Earthbank only

71 n.r.

• n

n

• Drystone wall

67 n.r.

• n

n

• Standing open water and canals

r1 179

n n v n n

Rivers and streams

r2 n.r.

n n v n n

Fen, marsh and swamp

f2 247

n n v v n n n

Building of historic interest

42 n.r.

• n

n

Archaeological feature

42a* n.r.

n n n v

Historic landscape / assemblage

42b* n.r.

n n n v

Open access land incl commons

OA*

• n

n n n

• Public Right of Way (metres)

PROW*

• n

n

Permissive access track or path

PA n.r.

• n

Educational access

EA n.r.

• n

n Asset has high potential to provide significant flows of the public good

• Asset has moderate potential to provide significant flows of the public good

v

Asset may provide flows of the public good, depending on the co-location of other features

NATURAL CAPITAL ASSETS showing potential flows of public goods

Public goods

All Exmoor

UK Hab Map Code Area (ha) subject to confirmation

Thriving biodiversity Natural beauty Cultural heritage Engage, Health & Clean & plentiful Flood mitigation Climate regulation Clean air

Unenclosed land Enclosed farmland Woodland & trees

Boundaries Wetland

Heritage Access

SLIDE 14

Lessons learned so far…

• Information on habitats, species, archaeology, landscape

features etc (natural capital assets) is incomplete and much of it is out-of-date. We need a simple way for farmers to check and update it for their land.

• Describing ‘spirit of place’ (beauty, culture, historical context…

supporting health and wellbeing) is the most difficult aspect – but it is important that this is rewarded in ELM

• Drawing together all the environmental objectives (biodiversity,

landscape, water, carbon, historic environment, etc) into an integrated plan that can guide farmer’s Land Management Plans is a complex process, requiring inputs from many organisations

SLIDE 15

Work to do

• Testing and refining the score sheets assessing the

condition of natural capital

• Testing different ways of calculating ELM payments for

a suite of environmental measures

• Estimating the economic impact of different ELM

payments on Exmoor farms

• Examining the potential environmental benefits of

uptake of environmental measures

• Assessing the staff resources needed for ELM delivery

SLIDE 16

How you can help us

Watch out for links to an online survey to be circulated by the Network, to cover:

• Advisors and sources of information that you trust
• Your interest in self-assessment of your farm environment
• Your willingness to attend knowledge sharing events as part
• f ELM agreements
• How you are planning for the reduction in BPS starting next

year