Curig
Jones - 15-Dec-2006 - This is a time of great
change for farming as it faces significant economic
and environmental challenges in the future, that’s
the message of a major joint report Good Farming,
Better Environment by Environment Agency Wales,
NFU Cymru and the Farmers Union of Wales (FUW).
The report, which provides a
summary of the current state of the farmed environment,
highlights some important environmental successes
that farmers in Wales have helped to achieve:
- 90% of Welsh bathing waters
met the strictest EU standards in 2005
- emissions of greenhouse gases
nitrous oxide and methane from agriculture have
reduced by 11%
- 71% of rivers surveyed in
Wales have otter populations however, it also
highlights that there are still improvements to
be made:
- 17% of serious pollution incidents
were still caused by farming - agriculture is
still responsible for 50% of methane emissions
in Wales
- the status of sensitive wetland
sites is lagging behind other habitats because
of water pollution
Another key challenge is the
need to understand how climate change will affect
the rural environment and future land use.
The report provides an important
starting point from which it will be possible
to measure improvements and report on successes.
It emphasises that good farming is good for farm
incomes, the environment and the rural economy.
Chris Mills, Director, Environment
Agency Wales, said:
"We want to see Welsh farming
adopting sound environmental practices to support
their food marketing strategy. A healthy environment
is the cornerstone of our farming industry in
Wales and underpins the quality standard of Welsh
farming products such as high quality beef and
lamb.
Producing food that people want
to eat and that they know has been produced to
the highest standards is increasingly important
in a competitive market. The only way we can achieve
this is by working with farmers and the farming
unions in Wales. This report is a starting point
for us all to develop a sustainable future for
Welsh farmers."
Dai Davies, President of NFU
Cymru, said:
"NFU Cymru has been pleased
to be able to work with Environment Agency Wales
on this report being launched today and we very
much welcome their commitment to finding a balance
between regulation advice and incentives which
hopefully will engender industry confidence.
"This is key to the ‘Good
Farming Better Environment’ report and hopefully
will result in a risk based approach that focuses
on those areas of highest risk, whilst reducing
the heavy burden of regulation that is generally
heaped on the farming industry.
"NFU Cymru has always been
an advocate, where possible, of a voluntary rather
than a regulatory approach. Clearly there are
challenges here for the industry but there are
other spheres where this approach is proving successful,
such as voluntary crop protection management plans."
Gareth Vaughan, President FUW,
said:
"This report recognises
that the protection of our environment cannot
be carried out by regulation alone and provides
a snapshot of the state of the farmed environment
in Wales.
"It signals the first step
of a positive partnership between the agricultural
industry and Environment Agency Wales in our efforts
to secure sufficient resources for agrienvironmental
schemes and incentives.
"Such support is necessary
in order to enable farmers to meet their environmental
obligations whilst remaining viable."
To highlight the importance
of the report the Environment Minister Carwyn
Jones will be handed a copy at a special event
in the Senedd building of the National Assembly
for Wales on Tuesday 12 December. Glyn Davies
AM, Chair of the Environment, Planning and Countryside
Committee will host the event.
