Help ensure that wildlife friendly farming in Scotland secures the maximum funding possible

Allan Whyte, Parliamentary Assistant at our Scotland HQ, explains how you can have your say to make sure wildlife-friendly farming gets the funding it needs.

The recently launched State of Nature report has shown us the extent of the hardships facing wildlife in the UK. It is estimated that 60% of the UK’s species are in decline - a shocking statistic that tell us urgent action is needed to halt this loss of biodiversity and restore our natural environment before the change becomes irreversible.

Over 75% of the Scottish countryside is farmed, making agricultural environments a really important place for nature. Farming in a way that looks after it is therefore one of the largest steps we can take to restoring our countryside’s wildlife. Many farmers across the UK are already doing fantastic things for wildlife through ‘agri-environment’ schemes, which provide support for farmers who use techniques that allow wildlife to survive and flourish on their farms.

The money that supports these schemes comes from rural development funds, the smaller ‘Pillar’ of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Many of you will have been following the current reforms to the CAP, and have campaigned with us throughout the process. We’ve now got to the stage where country-level decisions about funding for the next seven years are being made.

The Scottish Government has opened a public consultation on the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) and is asking whether funding for the SRDP should stay the same or increase. You can respond to this consultation until 30 June and if you have 10 minutes to spare we’d really encourage you to have your say.

Here are a couple of points you could raise in your response:

• The Government should ‘modulate’ the maximum funds allowed (15%) to rural development
  
  The CAP is split into two parts – the majority is devoted to direct support to farmers and a smaller portion delivers public benefits through ‘Rural Development Programmes’ (RDPs), which include support for wildlife-friendly farming. The Government has the option to ‘modulate’ funds – to move up to 15% of the money from the larger segment (Pillar I) into rural development (Pillar II).
  
  Because these funds benefit the environment and rural communities as a whole, they are an excellent way to support sustainable development and deliver real value for public money. As a result of the negotiations in Europe, disproportionate cuts fell on RDPs and modulating as much funding as possible is important in ensuring that as much of the good work happening already can continue.

• At least 50% of the SRDP 2014-2020 should be allocated to agri-environment schemes
  
  Currently, wildlife-friendly farming schemes receive less than one quarter of the SRDP budget but need much more if we really are going to stop wildlife declines in our countryside – this small pot is one of the biggest funding mechanisms we have for nature conservation. We need farmers to continue to be able to look after nature on their farms, and support for farmers who want to start doing so too.

Please e-mail your response to the consultation (Subject: SRDP Consultation Response) to SRDP2014-2020Consultation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk by 30 June. It’s normal for the Scottish Government to make consultation responses public so if you wouldn’t like yours to be you must state that you’d like it to remain confidential.

Got a question about this campaign? Leave a comment or email campaigns.scotland@rspb.org.uk.

You can help us monitor the success of our campaign by emailing a copy of your letter and any responses you receive to: campaigns.scotland@rspb.org.uk. If you’d like to see the full consultation you can find it at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/05/9633/0.