Thank you for signing our petition to David Cameron, calling on him to ‘vote for nature’ in Brussels and protect wildlife-friendly farming funds from disproportionate cuts.
Over 30,000 of you joined our call, an overwhelming response!
The EU Budget negotiations resulted in a deal between the heads of state of the 27 countries, but the outcomes were disappointing for wildlife-friendly farming. The funds were cut severely – more heavily than those on other parts of agriculture funding that don’t deliver such public benefits BUT the cuts were not as deep as had been discussed in earlier negotiations.
The EU Budget is not the last word on money for wildlife-friendly farming. The European Parliament now picks up the decision making and over the next few months will vote on the details of the next seven years' farming policy, so there are plenty of opportunities to secure gains for wildlife.
We’ll continue to advocate a farming policy that looks after our farmland for the future, not just for now, and delivers more for wildlife and the environment. We’ll need your help again at this next stage, to show your MEPs that wildlife on farms matters to the people they represent, so watch this space for news...
In the mean time if you would like to read more of our analysis of the Budget decision, you can take a look at Conservation Director Martin Harper's blog.
Thank you once again for your support and we look forward to campaigning with you further in the future.
Written by Steven Roddy, Head of Parliamentary Campaigns.