Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy: Greening or greenwash?

What would you say is the policy that has the greatest impact on wildlife in the UK? The Habitats Directive? The Wildlife and Countryside Act maybe? Or perhaps the Convention on Biological Diversity?

From my viewpoint, albeit a biased one, it is none of these. If I were to choose one, it would have to be the Common Agricultural Policy. Worth over £3 billion per year across the UK, I’m sure many of you are more than aware that the CAP has a major, and in many cases decisive impact on the quality of our countryside.

Many of the habitats that farmland birds, invertebrates and other wildlife depend upon are in turn dependent upon continued support under agri-environment schemes such as Environmental Stewardship and Rural Priorities.

However, continued declines of many iconic farmland birds such as skylark, turtle dove and grey partridge suggest that these schemes are not, by themselves, enough to reverse the declines of some of our most cherished species. The CAP must and can do more for the environment if we are to reverse the declines in British wildlife, and address many other issues such as water quality and the need to adapt to climate change.

The ‘greening’ of the direct payments presents us with this opportunity. Proposals put forward by the European Commission in 2011 suggest that 30% of direct payments should be conditional on farmers and land managers carrying out certain greening measures. In England alone, £1.6 billion will be paid to farmers through direct payments in 2012 – and 30% of that would equate to £480 million, roughly  £80 million more than is currently spent on English agri-environment schemes. It is plain to see then that if done well greening represents a massive opportunity to turn around the fortunes of wildlife dependent on sensitively managed farmland.

The key now is to ensure that greening is implemented in a way that provides meaningful and additional environmental benefits on every farm. One of the most promising measures, Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs), offers great potential as it would require an area on most farms to be managed for wider environmental benefits. If EFAs are introduced to complement, not conflict with, agri-environment schemes, with a transitional period for those with existing agreements, EFAs could represent a significant step forward toward a CAP focused on rewarding wildlife-friendly farming.

Recent signals from Member States however suggest that the greening measures may be diluted to such an extent as to be near worthless. Whilst there are still significant improvements to be made to the Commission’s proposals, many of the arguments that have been put forward to counter greening can and must be challenged. EFAs are not, for example, a return to the ‘set-aside’ of old, nor would they result in a massive reduction in commodity production from the EU.

Despite some calls to maximise commodity production in the EU to feed and clothe a growing global population we have to recognise that it is not the role of Europe to feed the world (although of course we must continue to be a strong producing group of nations). The role of the EU, and a role in which the CAP must be central, is to produce food alongside other vital ecosystem services whilst our governments support developing nations to do the same. Greening of the CAP can help this process and the opportunity must be taken. If it isn’t, then it will not only be a body blow for British wildlife, it would also amount to a withdrawal of the ambition to enhance the environmental performance of the CAP - which to date has been central to the current reform process and which is crucial for our long term food security.

What do you think about CAP greening? If you had £3 billion to spend on farming in the UK, what would you spend it on?