Dorset MP hits out at £800m scheme to restore natural habitats
The Local Nature Recovery Scheme could incentivise empty fields, according to Richard Drax
A Dorset MP is hitting out at a new £800m scheme to incentivise farmers to rebuild habitats for endangered species.
South Dorset MP Richard Drax says the Local Nature Recovery Scheme is a move from 'big state' to take productive fields out of production and turn the countryside into a place of 'play' rather than food production.
The Local Nature Recovery scheme will pay farmers for locally-targeted actions which make space for nature in the farmed landscape and countryside such as creating wildlife habitat, planting trees or restoring peat and wetland areas.
It aims to reverse the decline in biodiversity, improve water quality and build the environment's resilience to climate change.
But Richard Drax says it creates a false dichotomy between farming and the environment.
He told Greatest Hits Radio Dorset:
"I just fear that there's an element of big-state, that wants to, with a very powerful environmental and wildlife lobby behind it, wants to turn the countryside more into an area of play than food production.
"To launch these two funds, £800 million, to encourage productive fields to be taken out of production, I think is not the right way and is rather implying that farmers and nature and wildlife can't sit hand in hand."
Mr Drax says on his farm all sorts of wildlife run free, from buzzards to hares to ground-nesting birds.
But by taking those fields out of production, Richard says it will negatively impact your grocery bill and the carbon footprint.
He added:
"Crucially if we are going to go on producing food that households can afford, where better than to produce it here than in this country?
"The less we produce here, the more we're going to have to import and that hardly helps the carbon footprint."
Environment Secretary George Eustice said:
"We want to see profitable farming businesses producing nutritious food, underpinning a growing rural economy, where nature is recovering and people have better access to it.
"Through our new schemes, we are going to work with farmers and land managers to halt the decline in species, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, increase woodland, improve water and air quality and create more space for nature.
"We are building these schemes together, and we are already working with over 3,000 farmers across the sector to test and trial our future approach. Farmers will be able to choose which scheme or combination of schemes works best for their business, and we will support them to do so."
An early version of the Local Nature Recovery scheme will be trialled in 2023 with a full roll-out across the country from 2024.