Natural England launches upland vision

The Defra agency said it wanted the document, ‘Vital Uplands - a 2060 Vision for England’s uplands’, to be a ‘starting point for discussion’ on how the uplands are managed in the future.

However, organisations representing upland farmers have criticised the vision, accusing Natural England of not placing enough emphasis on the importance of productive farming in the hills.

The document describes England’s uplands as a ‘national asset’ but says the environment and the services it provides is under pressure from climate change, changing social and economic circumstances and the impacts of ‘unsustainable use’.

It outlines a range of aspirations for how the uplands should be managed by 2060 that includes ‘vibrant, forward looking’ upland communities and economies, clean water supply and sustainable production of food, wood and other raw materials.

The report suggests that grazing of livestock in the uplands should be managed to produce ‘food and much more’ and matched to achieve the best outcomes form the locality.

Natural England also announced three pilot projects – in Cumbria, the South West uplands and Yorkshire – which will explore how the provision of a broader range of environmental services can be turned into genuine business opportunities for farmers and land managers. The pilots will begin in 2010.

Natural England’s acting chair, Poul Christensen said: “Our Vision is the starting point for a dialogue we want to have with upland stakeholders up and down the country about how we can all work together to shape the future of the uplands.

“The uplands provide society with a huge range of services – they are vital for food production, carbon storage and climate regulation, flood management, and water supply, as well as providing inspirational landscapes for recreation and homes to many rare and important species.

“The vulnerability of upland environments, the delicate economic state of many upland hill farms, and the ongoing challenge of climate change mean that a debate about the future direction of upland management is timely,” he said.

“It is increasingly clear that a business-as-usual approach will be less and less able to address the challenges of the future.”

But NFU uplands spokesman Will Cockbain criticised the document’s priorities. He said his main concern was that the vision ‘failed to address the importance of the marketplace’ in sustaining upland farming and local economies. He highlighted Natural England’s Higher Level Stewardship scheme, which he stipulated stocking densities that are so low they ‘detach farmers from the marketplace’.

Mr Cockbain said the primary purpose of the uplands will remain food production. “We need agri-environment schemes but they must be compatible with the farmer being able to focus on the market,” he said.

Tenant Farmers Association spokesman Mike Keeble likened the report to a ‘fairy tale’ and said the document was ‘long on aspiration but short on the practicalities’ of those who live and work in the uplands.

He warned that livestock production in the hills was being ‘undermined and eroded’ by Natural England’s ill-thought out schemes.

The Moorland association claimed the document ‘threatens open heather moorland as we know it’.

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