On Wednesday 24 June 2020, Defra reopened the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme consultation, after it was paused in early April due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
This scheme will transform the way foresters, farmers and other land managers are supported, replacing the payments and grants set up under the Common Agricultural Policy.
The way in which any new ELM scheme is developed and rolled out will affect all of our members and we would encourage you to respond to this consultation on behalf of yourself and your business. The consultation will close on Friday 31st July.
We’ll also be formulating an Institute response and will continue the work we’re doing with partners to influence the scheme. Your input will help guide these efforts. Please send us your thoughts, by email, to Jemima Cooper – jemima.cooper@charteredforesters.org.
Join a Defra webinar!
Defra are planning a series of online interactive webinars on the policy discussion document during July. These offer an opportunity for farmers and foresters to discuss the proposals with Defra staff. Please do join one of these if you are able, the details are below:
Wednesday 1 July 12:00 – 13:30
Tuesday 7 July 18:00 – 19:30
Thursday 16 July 08:30 – 10:00
Thursday 23 July 12:00 – 13:30
Tuesday 28 July 08:30 – 10:00
Thursday 30 Jul 18:00 – 19:30
Register here to join a webinar
Neville Elstone is the Institute’s representative for ELMs and is a member of DEFRA’s advisory group. He emphasises the importance of the scheme and your participation in the consultation below.
“Trees, woodlands and forests have been giving a range of really useful stuff to society, largely with no reward or recognition to the owner or manager. The 25 year Environment Plan and the land management policy intervention that will support it, the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs) aims to change this. It is being designed to reward land managers and owners that provide ecosystem services such as biodiversity, carbon storage and clean water – paying public money for public goods.
The Institute is a couple of years into work to shape this scheme to recognise and pay for the benefits that we as a sector provide. The most recent chance to shape this comes as a discussion document launched by DEFRA – it gives you a flavour of the direction that ELMs will take and gives the chance to respond. The Institute is very much focussed on the importance of boosting skills and the provision of high quality advice through the scheme, along with firm emphasis on UKFS and stressing the need for regulatory sign off and incentives to be in one place/one package.
ELMs gives the sector a chance to be rewarded for what it provides and so grow, develop and thrive. I urge you to take a look at the document, both to have a sight of where we are heading and to give you a chance to input – whether direct to DEFRA, as part of the Institute’s response or preferably both. These developments will shape land management for many years to come.”
