Field of schemes – turning the farmer industry to conservation

A leading agronomist and conservation expert has proposed a major overhaul of England’s approach to agricultural environmental management. He argues that biodiversity recovery and productive farming can be achieved together. The proposal recommends tighter controls on pesticide use, improved monitoring, and more targeted conservation funding. The recommendations come from Simon Ward of Increment Ltd, a Cambridge-based company that provides a wide range of expertise to the rural sector. Ward suggests replacing broad environmental measures with policies that directly address the ecological drivers of species decline while encouraging innovation in farming. “To optimise biodiversity some form of intervention is needed, particularly if we are to avoid a catastrophic fall in food supply,” Ward told Sciencebase. There are between 5.0 and 6.6 million hectares of English farmland in some form of agricultural management at a cost now approaching £2b per year. “The scheme options have hardly…