Tell the UK Government any cuts to the farming budget would be a disaster for farmers and nature.
Right now is a pivotal moment for nature and farming. The UK Government is considering how to balance budgets ahead of its Comprehensive Spending Review in June. The farming budget – the biggest pot of funding for nature – is in the firing line. But any cut now would be a disaster for nature and farming.
Independent research says the UK Government must increase investment in nature-friendly farming from the £3.5 billion it is now, to £5.9 billion a year. This investment and long-term commitments are vital for all four countries in the UK if we’re going to see our wildlife recover, hit our nature and climate targets and support more resilient food production.
Nature gives us fresh air, clean water, healthy soils and a rich diversity of life - the very things on which all food production depends. It can also reduce carbon emissions and help deal with the impacts of extreme weather caused by climate change, such as flooding and drought.
The UK is already one of the most nature-depleted places on the planet. Across England, Scotland and Wales, one in six species of the 10,000 studied for the State of Nature report are at risk of becoming extinct. In Northern Ireland, 281 species could be lost. With 70% of the UK farmed, working with farmers is the best chance we have of seeing our wildlife numbers recover and then soar.
Nature-friendly farming makes farming as a business more resilient and profitable in the long term. It can keep our soils and water healthier and increase natural pest controls and pollinators such as bees, on which much of our food relies.
According to Green Finance Institute, damage to the natural environment is slowing the UK economy and could lead to an estimated 12% reduction in GDP in the years ahead. Farming in ways that help nature recover are vital if we’re going to stop this happening.
With budgets currently under scrutiny, the nature-friendly farming budget could potentially face cuts. That’s why the single biggest thing you can do to help nature in the UK today is sign or share our petition telling the UK Government nature can’t afford a pay cut. Almost 60,000 of you have signed already – thank you! If you haven’t yet, please click the link below.
Sign the petition
If you have, please share the petition with your friends and family. Adding thousands more voices is the best opportunity we have to persuade the UK Government to not cut the farming budget - it would demonstrate there’s real public support for investing in nature-friendly farming.
Many farmers are already showing farms can be productive, profitable and alive with the sounds of Curlew, Skylarks and Yellowhammers. In farms big and small across our uplands and lowlands, they’re making important shifts to let wildlife back in while running successful and resilient businesses and helping the environment heal.
But to do this on the scale needed, UK Government must support our farmers and invest now. If this happens, it could see the beginnings of a revival for so much of our farmland wildlife as the results show nature-friendly farming really works. Research says butterflies, bees and bats have all increased in areas where farmers have taken part in government funded agri-environment schemes. Just imagine the difference it could make if the UK and devolved governments provide the investment now to support farmers and crofters to help bring our wildlife back all around the UK.
When we speak together, we’re louder. Please sign or share our petition and tell Chancellor Rachel Reeves nature can’t afford a pay cut. If UK Government invest now in nature-friendly farming we can grow a brighter future for our wildlife, our farmers and all of us.
