Our CEO Nick von Westenholz spoke to Country Life about our hopes and concerns for the countryside ahead of the 2025 Budget. (c. Country Life, November 19, 2025)
Nick von Westenholz, CEO of Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT):
When the Chancellor delivers her Budget on 26 November, land managers will be watching intently. The UK government has statutory targets for restoring nature, including halting the decline of species abundance by 2030 (30by30) and restoring or creating 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats by 2042. This simply won’t be possible without the dedication, expertise and application of Britain’s farmers, gamekeepers and landowners.
But if they’re to help the government’s ambitions for environmental delivery, confidence is everything – and rural confidence took a major hit at the last Budget. Inheritance tax changes have already shaken the sector, and while the government has secured £2.7 billion annually for Environmental Land Management schemes from 2026-2029, in real-terms this means less money than before in support payments, and the sudden “pausing” of the Sustainable Farming Incentive earlier in the year shook confidence badly.
There are real concerns about how rural businesses can remain viable, while also undertaking conservation measures on their land.
There are positive options open to the Government too, based on the principle of enabling landowners to reduce the reliance on public money for environmental delivery. The Chancellor should look at how tax incentives can be used to encourage nature restoration, especially where there is collaboration, and private markets through commitment to policies such as Biodiversity Net Gain. For example, the inclusion of conditional exemptions to capital taxation of land which meets environmental standards deemed to contribute to 30by30 would provide a strong driver for land managers to invest in nature without the need for direct tax-payer funding.
Nearly three-quarters of land in the UK is farmland, and gamekeepers alone manage 1.6 million hectares. These people know their land intimately, understand what works, and are committed to its long-term sustainability. Yet a recent survey showed more than half are considering giving up farming. Lose the people from the land and you lose the people who conserve nature across the landscape. Government, starting with this month’s Budget, need to recognise this fundamental truth: land managers are conservation's frontline; Squeeze their margins too hard and put too many obstacles in their way, and it will be Britain's countryside – and wildlife – that suffer.