The @ciwem webinar on nature-based solutions and the ELMs scheme has begun! I'll live-tweet key points in this thread. #agriculture #elms
First of all, we're hearing from Gareth Morgan from the @SoilAssociation who is going to try discuss whether farming itself can be a nature-based solution #britishfarming
Gareth Morgan: There are lots of land-sparing options (margins/rewilding etc) whereby some areas cease farming whilst other areas are intensified. Gareth argues that this may sometimes be a slightly 'defeatist' approach and that farming should co-evolve with nature.
Gareth suggests an alternative way, where farming is an ecological process rather than an industrial process, with farmland viewed as a habitat in its own right through looking at soil as its own habitat.
Soil is an active habitat and restoring soils is key for allowing farming to become a nature-based activity. We need high SOM, high soil biota and high above-ground biodiversity to do this. #soils
We can increase soil org matter by reducing tillage (depending on whether it's appropriate for the land!), integrating livestock, using cover crops, reducing artificial N usage. This is likely best achieved through more mixed farming, less intensive livestock, more biodiv #soils
The @SoilAssociation has been working with IDRIS, a French ThinkTank, to see how feasible this is and what the climate change and biodiversity benefits of this are. Initial results are promising in terms of yield/nutrient availability/ecosystem functionality #soilhealth
Gareth: the pause in the consultation for ELMS is a good opportunity for us to consider whether farming could generate more nature intrinsically @SoilAssociation
Gareth: The more that we can generate nature as an intrinsic part of farming, opening up resources of PES/AES. Generating nature as part of farming could make us less reliant on AES on doing everything, it could instead focus on targeted species recovery (e.g. stone curlew).
Gareth has finished his talk and we're now looking at audience questions. Firstly, Niki Roach of @ciwem asks how big the tradeoff would be between productivity and soil health?
Gareth: under agroecological farming, our diets would need to be more plant-based with more legumes (pulses). However, there is room for red meat under this system but less for white meat (e.g. poultry). Our diets would be healthier. #agroecology
Question 2: How do we prevent smaller, less intensive farms from being swallowed up by larger, industrial farms which are less reliant on subsidies?
Gareth: Relying on the current market system will move towards larger farms but if we focus on more fruit/veg prod (which we're short of in the UK), we will need a major input of resources when transitioning to a system less dependent on support (if this is the right approach).
Q: Should meeting and maintaining min standards of soil health/good management be a pre-requisite before a land manager can quality for any further ELMs funds?
Gareth: We need to be careful about doing that move too quickly and help farmers with the transition first.
Economic pressures have pushed a perception that farmers 'dislike' nature (which I personally haven't observed!), but fundamentally farming itself should be an ecological process, it should not be farming vs nature.
We're now moving onto the second speaker, Tom Lancaster @tommlancaster from the @Natures_Voice.
@tommlancaster is going to be discussing priorities for nature recovery through ELMs. From an @Natures_Voice perspective, ELMs sits in a broad context, within the agriculture bill.
The @rspb would like to see a positive feedback loop emerge between the ag bill, the office for env protection, and the env bill to drive investment into the agriculture bill, thus securing funding for ELMs
There are lots of different mechanisms, ELM isn't the only one which needs to realise the six main outcomes of the #25yep, Tom argues that ELMs can't achieve everything, it can't be the only means of doing these things. Regulation will also be appropriate in some cases.
@tommlancaster @Natures_Voice hope that Tier 1 of ELMs will be appropriate for all farm types & result in 'nature everywhere!' by including proactive management for nature through integrated pest management, innovative soil man, agroforestry, whole-farm approaches, org farming.
@tommlancaster Tier 2 of ELM: corridors, connectivity and systems. They think this is important for farmers who want to maintain/create habitats & upland farmers. This tier could = targeted species recovery (e.g. cirl bunting, previous success story) alongside other benefits.
Tier 3: Nature based-solutions. @tommlancaster: this cuts across all 3 tiers & means more than just trees - peatland/coastal restoration also important. This can involve restoration at scale alongside creation/rewilding. This is, however, a non-starter without community buy-in
@tommlancaster of @Natures_Voice on how we can make this work:
1. Funding
2. Advice (I personally see this as absolutely crucial!)
3. Engagement
4. Targeting
5. Monitoring
6. Administration
ELM should be effective, attractive, deliverable #elm #agriculture
1. Funding
2. Advice (I personally see this as absolutely crucial!)
3. Engagement
4. Targeting
5. Monitoring
6. Administration
ELM should be effective, attractive, deliverable #elm #agriculture
@tommlancaster shows concern that tier 1 of ELMs may not be ambitious enough and be too 'business-as-usual', Defra need to recognise the scale of ambition required and how to get farmers to buy-in to this
Now for Qs: How will farmers deal with the additional workload associated with this reform?
@tommlancaster's answer: A lot of the frustrations are more to do with bureaucracy and late-payments. ELMs may ask a lot of farmers, but where they see improvements in soil health as a result, this could be great for farmers as they'll realise it's one integrated system.
Q: What is the role (if any) for the natural capital approach in ELMs?
@tommlancaster's answer: the @Natures_Voice have been sceptical of natural capital for providing a basis for payments but it could be used to assess value from ELM to make a case for long-term investment. Natural capital could also be used to target interventions...
... but this needs to be done carefully, natural capital targeting may lead to lots of tree planting around cities but no measures for protecting birds in the uplands etc.
@tommlancaster says to Google 'Natural Capital' on the @Natures_Voice website for more information on this as they've done a lot of work on NC.
Q: As an NGO, is there an 'us' vs 'them' culture towards farming? How do we bridge that gap?
@tommlancaster of @Natures_Voice: we are trying to take a more convivial approach, we're working with farmers across the country & have a good relationship with many farming orgs. It can be difficult but we're finding more and more common ground between farming and conservation.
There is a bit of a them vs us culture but we're really trying to move away from that - sounds like there's been some good progress made since the 'public money for public goods' mantra emerged!
Wow! There are 352 attendees in this mornings @ciwem seminar! Time for a 5-minute break.
And we're back! Time to hear from Annabelle LePage, a project manager for @NaturalEngland on a payments by results @defra trial.
There is evidence that conventional, action-based schemes can lead to environmental outcomes but they're not universal and are bound by rules. Results based schemes turn this upside-down, with farmers given flexibility and the ability to apply their local knowledge and skills
Annabelle: Some potential benefits of payment by results = better outcomes? More engagement? More cost-effective? @NaturalEngland are investigating this by comparing farms working under PBR vs existing schemes and through gaining feedback from farmers participating in the trial
Annabelle: Things to consider are whether farmers can accurately self-assess their results and whether PBR can work at large scales.
The current trial, in conjunction with @yorkshire_dales is exploring 4 types of measures: sps rich grassland, habitats for breeding waders (where birds/chicks aren't counted - the proxy indicator is the quality of habitat instead), winter bird food, & pollen/nectar resources
By the end of next year, there'll be 4 years of results from this trial! Farmers self-assess using a standard approach which is simple and doesn't need technical equipment. NE/an advisor then survey too to check, with payments based on quality.
Control sites under CS or Env Stewardship with the same habitat types are also being surveyed in conjunction with the trial sites to see how the sites under payment-by-results vs current schemes compare in terms of quality
Findings after 3 years: It has been found that both arable habitats are performing better under payment-by-results than in conventional schemes (especially for wild bird food!) #paymentbyresults #elms @NaturalEngland @yorkshire_dales
Grassland habitats managed under payment-by-results have also improved over 3 years vs sites under conventional schemes (the habitat for breeding waders has been more variable but 2019 results were more encouraging) @NaturalEngland @yorkshire_dales
Farmers have shared their attitudes towards payment-by-results, with many liking being able to use their local knowledge, not being tied down by prescriptions, making their own decisions, & the co-benefits of participating. @yorkshire_dales #elms #agriculture
Farmers see the availability of advice as crucial when operating under payment-by-results. Participants in the trial have developed the skills for self-assessing but there will be some variation, so farmers will need advice when learning how to do this #paymentbyresults #elms
If you'd like to know more about the payment-by-results trial held by @NaturalEngland @yorkshire_dales, there is a report on the Natural England website. Link to more info also available here: yorkshiredales.org.uk/about/national…
There may be a need for payment-by-results to provide farmers with a minimum, discretionary payment in cases where a farmer has worked hard to achieve their goals but has failed due to circumstances (e.g. due to drought/flooding etc.) @NaturalEngland #paymentbyresults
Q: Will lower payments be enforced, at present <1% of farms are checked for compliance. Will ELMS be adequately resourced?
Annabelle: I can't comment on this directly as it's outside my scope, but even with self-assessment there will need to be some level of assessment to ensure the goals of payment-by-results are met
Now for our final speaker, Gabby Dotro from @cranfieldwater! #naturebasedsolutions
Gabby @cranfieldwater is going to talk about treatment wetlands as an option within ELMs, which is an engineered ecosystem designed to mimic the conditions of a natural wetland.
Gaby @cranfieldwater: treatment wetlands offer multiple co-benefits alongside water quality improvements depending on how they're designed, including societal and recreational benefits
Check out aquanes-h2020.eu for further info about a project exploring ecosystem services for nature-based solutions, which included a UK survey comparing natural/ engineered reed beds. Findings = engineered reed beds provide similar levels of biodiv to natural reed beds!
Intercepting combined sewer overflows could provide another opportunity for nature-based solutions and may result in water quality improvements @cranfieldwater
Now for questions for Gaby: firstly, someone says they've been trying to get a treatment wetland for 5 years but the Environment Agency are creating barriers - how do we overcome barriers similar to this?
Gaby: I agree, there can be some difficulties. To overcome these it's all about engagement, there are several initiatives where we're getting people together to discuss wetlands and it all comes back to the evidence. We need to make case studies easily accessible @cranfieldwater
Q: What are the ongoing costs of constructed treatment wetlands?
Gaby: Initial costs vary but can be high but in terms of operation/maintenance the tasks are simple & can be done by anyone. The major costs relate to removing sediment every ~10 years. Treatment wetlands must be planned carefully - there will always be solids which don't degrade
We've come to the end of this @ciwem seminar! Fascinating discussion. Hope readers have found this thread useful. Now to get back to writing my thesis! :)
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