Office for Environmental Protection
Progress in improving the natural environment in England 2022/2023

Just under 70% of land in England is used for agriculture.²⁶⁸ Managing agricultural land in a nature-friendly way can deliver significant environmental improvement at scale. Nature-friendly farming (Box 12.1) is a key delivery mechanism for the apex goal of Thriving plants and wildlife, also contributing to achieving seven other EIP23 goals.

Learning from past agri-environment schemes

AES have been in place since the 1980s ²⁷⁴ and are supported by extensive evidence, demonstrating how land managers and farmers can manage land to benefit the environment. Natural England has many publications on farming and land management,²⁷⁵ and Defra’s biodiversity targets detailed evidence reports model the potential contributions of farming to improving the environment.²⁷⁶ Policy evaluations have also been published and, in 2023, we commissioned a quick scoping review of all of Defra’s environmental policy evaluations, which identified that a large proportion relate to AES.²⁶⁵ Applying this knowledge of past successes and failures will facilitate environmental improvement.

New farming schemes

Since 2021, AES in England have undergone a transformation. As a result of EU exit and leaving the Common Agricultural Policy, direct payments to farmers based upon land ownership are being phased out. These are being replaced by a reformed suite of AES to deliver environmental improvement, as set out by Defra in the Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024.²² This change is underpinned by the commitment to use public money for public goods.

The government is paying land managers and farmers for nature-friendly farming via environmental land management (ELM) and other rural payment schemes. ELM comprises three AES.

First, the three-year Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme which is designed to be universal and not require specialist advice. The actions are intended to be straightforward for farmers to carry out.²⁷⁷ Actions include growing multi-species cover crops over the winter to protect soil, or maintaining and/or establishing hedgerow trees to support wildlife.¹³⁶

Second, the expansion and refinement of the Countryside Stewardship and development of Countryside Stewardship Plus. The latter will target funding to incentivise co-ordinated action across a landscape.²⁷⁷ Countryside Stewardship, for example, includes numerous actions which benefit pollinators and other wildlife.²⁷⁸

Third, Landscape Recovery provides funding for a small number of long-term, large-scale environmental projects delivering significant environmental benefits.²⁷⁷ An example is the Evenlode Landscape Recovery Project.²⁷⁹

How nature-friendly farming supports EIP23 delivery

The EIP23 contains almost 180 ambitions, targets and commitments to improve the environment, including the EA21 targets and interim targets. Nature-friendly farming, and in particular the positive environmental outcomes resulting from successful delivery of AES such as Landscape Recovery, are envisaged to make a significant contribution to achieving these.

The precise contribution of nature-friendly farming to the environmental improvement at the core of the EIP23 is not clearly stated, which hinders our evaluation of progress. Table 12.1 summarises the ambitions, targets and commitments where it is stated in the EIP23 that nature-friendly farming will contribute.

Within the 11 ambitions, targets and commitments envisaged to be directly delivered by nature-friendly farming is the long-term wildlife-rich habitat restoration or creation target (an EA21 target) to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042. The EIP23 states that new farming schemes are expected to contribute at least 80% of this, enabling contribution of nature-friendly farming to be monitored.

Alongside this EA21 target are the ‘30 by 30’ commitments. For land to count towards ‘30 by 30’ it must meet certain criteria (see Chapter 2). It is not yet clear whether land in nature-friendly farming schemes that is created or restored for this EA21 target will count towards ‘30 by 30’ commitments. Defra should make clear the contribution of nature-friendly farming to the terrestrial element of ‘30 by 30’ to enable progress to be monitored.

In addition, there are other ambitions, targets and commitments in the EIP23 which are dependent upon or should be supported by nature-friendly farming reducing environmental pressures from agriculture, although these are not explicitly set out or quantified, for example, the restoration of 75% of water bodies to good ecological status.

Table 12.1. EIP23 ambitions, targets and commitments that nature friendly farming will contribute to as stated in the EIP23.

EIP23 goal area	Direct contribution of nature friendly farming
Goal 1: Thriving plants and wildlife	Halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. (EA21 Target: 2030 species abundance target)
	Reverse the decline of species abundance so the overall relative species abundance index by 31st December 2042 is higher than the index for 31st December 2022 and at least 10% higher than the index for 31st December 2030 (EA21 Target: long-term target to reverse the decline of species abundance)
	Restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat outside of protected areas by 2042 (EA21 Target: long-term wildlife-rich habitat restoration or creation target)
	From 2024 bring or maintain 37,000 to 48,000 hectares of eligible SSSI habitat in England under favourable management and bring 75% of protected sites into favourable condition by 2042
	Increase woodland and trees outside woodland cover to 16.5% of England’s land area by 2050 (EA21 Target: 2050 target for woodland and trees outside woodland)
	65–80% of landowners and farmers to adopt nature friendly farming on at least 10-15% of their land by 2030
	Create or restore 30,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2037 and 45,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2050, returning hedgerow lengths in England to 10% above the 1984 peak (360,000 miles)
Goal 2: Clean air	Support farmers to reduce the impact of ammonia emissions from agriculture on air quality
Goal 3: Clean and plentiful water	Reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution from agriculture into the water environment by 10% by 31 January 2028 (15% in catchments containing protected sites in unfavourable condition due to nutrient pollution) and at least 40% by 2038 (EA21 Target for agriculture water; EA21 Interim Targets for agriculture water and agriculture water in catchments containing protected sites)
Goal 6: Using resources from nature sustainably	Bring at least 40% of England’s agricultural soil into sustainable management by 2028 and increasing to 60% by 2030
Goal 7: Mitigating and adapting to climate change	Reducing emissions from the agricultural sector and mitigating flood risk and other climate change-related impacts.

How nature-friendly farming supports the delivery of climate change mitigation and adaptation

Nature-friendly farming can support climate change mitigation and adaptation alongside wider environmental improvement, although emissions from agriculture and land use are largely unchanged from 10 years ago and there are significant policy gaps in agri-environment policy and an over-reliance on voluntary measures.¹⁰

Low-carbon farming, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector, is incorporated within the government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan.²⁰⁶ Agri-environment and other grant schemes incentivise measures which land managers and farmers can adopt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, for example, funding to protect agricultural soils or to purchase precision farming equipment.

For climate change adaptation, nature-friendly farming schemes must consider future climate scenarios to ensure resilience of agricultural productivity in the future, as well as ensuring that actions implemented to achieve wider environment targets are resilient. Schemes should continue to incentivise the use of nature-based solutions, which will help to deliver environmental targets while increasing resilience to hazards such as flooding, drought and wildfires.

Prospects for delivering nature-friendly farming

For nature-friendly farming to deliver its potential, there are a number of barriers and risks which must be addressed, but the information on nature-friendly farming published by Defra does not comprehensively account for these.

Uptake of nature-friendly farming

In the Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024,²² it was stated that participation in AES should increase from the current level of 30% to 70% by the end of the transition in 2028. In the EIP23, the government makes a similar commitment for 70% of agricultural land and 70% of farm holdings to be covered by new farming schemes by 2028, with an additional commitment of 65–80% of landowners and farmers adopting nature-friendly farming on at least 10–15% of their land by 2030. The changing participation rates and the inclusion of land area in these commitments makes it unclear whether the changes represent a genuine increase in ambition. A key consideration is the location on a farm where nature-friendly farming is adopted, as this will alter the type and level of environmental benefits.

The range of figures on the current level of participation in AES uses inconsistent terminology. In June 2023, Defra indicated there were 40,000 agreements in Countryside and Environmental Stewardship schemes, covering about 34% of agricultural land,²⁷⁷ although it is unclear which legacy and current schemes are included. On 24 October 2023, the Secretary of State, before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, quoted current figures indicating a high level of interest in the SFI, resulting in over 1,000 applications and 577 agreements. This appears encouraging, although it is unclear how these applications may contribute to the target for 65–80% of landowners and farmers adopting nature-friendly farming on at least 10–15% of their land by 2030.

Quality of schemes

To achieve the environmental improvement that nature-friendly farming is expected to deliver, the focus needs to be on the quality of AES and the environmental improvements, not just the number of schemes or the area of land covered. Agri-environment and other grant schemes need to be tailored to the local habitats, species and pressures to deliver the greatest benefits to the environment (Box 12.2). Pursuing high uptake rates in isolation will not be cost effective and will not maximise environmental benefits. A lack of detailed spatial plans to help landowners prioritise and support the most effective schemes for nature recovery is a major gap.

Accelerating roll-out of schemes and lag times

It is encouraging that levels of uptake of AES between 2017 and 2022 have increased. However, this is from a low baseline position and a significant decline from its peak in 2013 (see Chapter 2).

The three AES within ELM are still in development. This is a source of uncertainty impacting farming businesses and potentially limiting and delaying environmental improvement. For example, Countryside Stewardship, Countryside Stewardship Plus and the SFI are expected to continue to evolve to the end of 2024.²⁸¹ Land managers and farmers are likely to have a reduced level of confidence in schemes which remain in development.

Given the proximity of certain environmental targets, with one EA21 target having a date of 2030 (the 2030 species abundance target) (although EA21 interim targets have closer dates), a comprehensive suite of nature-friendly farming schemes is needed now. Where possible, the development of schemes should be accelerated to increase the likelihood of environmental improvement enabling EA21 targets and interim targets to be met.

The environmental improvement generated from nature-friendly farming will not be immediate and can take a number of years, depending on the habitats and species present. There are lag times between a land manager or farmer applying for a scheme and environmental improvements. Certain on-farm measures may not always be successful in the first year, for example a pollen and nectar flower mix may not always become established. It is unclear how Defra has incorporated lag times within its analysis of the contribution of nature-friendly farming to EIP23 goals.

Advice for land managers and farmers

Our engagement with stakeholders identified the importance of one-to-one advice from trusted advisers with an understanding of the local environment and farming businesses. Good advice, underpinned by evidence, can encourage farmers and land managers to adopt ambitious schemes to drive environmental improvement.

It is encouraging that the budget for catchment sensitive farming advice has doubled,80 as this focuses on providing specific advice in relation to diffuse pollution. However, much broader advice is needed to underpin AES, and advice is either hard for farmers and land managers to obtain or costly. This will impact the efficacy of AES, a conclusion also reached by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee in its 2021 report ‘Environmental Land Management and the Agricultural Transition’.²⁸²

A further risk of not having access to one-to-one advice is that farmers and land managers will favour the simplest options, potentially limiting environmental improvement on their land. In Defra’s ELM detailed evidence report, a similar point is made: “Free choice scheme designs can result in take up of very limited number of management options, restricting the potential environmental benefits.”²⁷⁶ For certain locations and geographic scales, more-targeted interventions are required to achieve the degree of change needed to bring about environmental improvement, for example at a river catchment scale.

The Rural Payments Agency is responsible for delivering the agricultural transition. In its five-year strategy,²⁸³ the Rural Payments Agency detailed how its relationship with its customers – land managers and farmers – is changing. The previous focus on making payments to agricultural businesses and ensuring compliance with regulations and AES is evolving to one of being data-led and outcome-focused to drive environmental improvement. Given the barriers to obtaining one-to-one advice, the Rural Payments Agency’s unique position and knowledge provides an opportunity to encourage land managers and farmers to adopt and increase nature-friendly farming.