§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government have done to encourage farmers to adopt more wildlife-friendly farming techniques. [66645]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Department and its agencies have a variety of mechanisms to promote more wildlife-friendly farming among farmers. The two largest instruments are the Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Areas schemes. These offer farmers and other land managers payments to assist them in the protection and enhancement or the rural environment.
599WOther measures include:
Wildlife Enhancement Agreements (administered by English Nature on Sites of Special Scientific Interest);environmental measures attached to the Organic Farming scheme:cross-compliance measures to ensure good environmental management of set-aside land to tackle over-grazing and inappropriate supplementary feeding of livestock;delivery of free conservation advice to farmers, focusing especially on priority Biodiversity Action Plan species and habitats;a biodiversity and conservation management research programme worth over £2 million a year.