Blogs

Our Director of Policy and the Allerton Project, Dr Alastair Leake, shares his thoughts on the latest domestic hedgerow regulations.

I have been delighted by the responses to my first monthly musings on hedges. Thank you. In my defence the initial blog was never intended to be all encompassing so I’m “hedging my bets” (pun intended!) and doing a follow up to acknowledge the excellent comments made.

In readiness for all anticoagulant rodenticide purchases being restricted July onwards to their use inside and around buildings only, the latest UK Rodenticide Stewardship annual report includes for the first time an explanation specific to rodent pest control of what constitutes a ‘building’.

Although farmer clusters have been going in England since 2012 and have been immensely successful (with over 100 connected to GWCT now established) unfortunately in Scotland we have not seen this same level realised. So why is this, and what can we do to kick-start their uptake in Scotland?

Many parts of the English rolling landscape are criss-crossed by hedgerows, which if one stops and looks provide an interesting perspective on the history of the landscape being observed.

Whether or not to fund the management of species to protect another was the subject of a keen debate in the House of Lords on Thursday 25 January.

On Wednesday 24 January, Teresa Dent CBE was on a panel of experts giving their witness statements about the role of natural capital in the green economy. Teresa joined Minette Batters, President of the NFU, and Judicaelle Hammond, Director of Policy and Advice at the CLA.

Whilst there was much to be positive about in the recent announcement by the Defra Secretary of State on the 2024 SFI offer in terms of its support for farming, we are disappointed that the opportunity was not taken to include measures in the ELMS to reduce predation pressure to facilitate species recovery.

The latest changes to the Sustainable Farming Incentive, launched at the Oxford Farming Conference, are a huge step in the right direction. For many years, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has argued for those farmers with good existing habitat to be rewarded for their work. Finally, we have this at a fair rate within government policy.

The GWCT is delighted that the headline of the EFRA report following its soil health inquiry is that government should take soil health as seriously as it does our other critical assets of water and air.