Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Written Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the British Ecological Society (V21)

INTRODUCTION

  1.  The British Ecological Society is pleased to provide written evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee's inquiry into the Government's Rural Delivery Strategy 2004. The British Ecological Society, founded in 1913, is an independent learned society with an international membership of over 4,000. Its primary objectives are to advance and support research in ecology, promote ecological education and provide science policy advice.

SUMMARY

  2.  The British Ecological Society (BES) welcomes the broad thrust of the Government's proposal to create an Integrated Authority. The BES fully supports the principle of integrating all aspects of land and freshwater management within one agency in order to have coherent delivery of rural programmes for sustainable development. However, in order to achieve this, the following issues need to be considered when establishing the Integrated Agency:

    (a)  The Agency needs to be able to provide independent advice to Government.

    (b)  Science needs to inform advice and delivery.

    (c)  The Agency needs to take an ecosystem approach to environmental management.

    (d)  The Agency's relationship with the Forestry Commission needs to be clarified.

    (e)  National Nature Reserves need to be integrated into its operation.

    (f)  Conservation of non-rural areas needs to be fully integrated into the overall landscape management policy.

    (g)  The Agency needs to maintain strong relations with external partners.

    (h)  Continuity of information and programmes need to be part of the process of merging existing organisations into the new Agency.

INDEPENDENT ADVICE

  3.  The Integrated Agency needs to be charged with providing independent science-based advice on environmental and conservation issues throughout Government. Its ability to provide independent advice is dependent upon both being independent from Government and having a strong science-base. The creation of the new Integrated Agency as a Non-Departmental Public Body is therefore supported in order for it to have a degree of independence.

SCIENCE BASE

  4.  English Nature currently performs an essential role in advancing understanding of natural systems through research, monitoring and surveillance of trends. The new Integrated Agency needs to build upon this expertise by having a strong mandate and a robust system for scientific research and advice. Without these functions it will not be able to properly protect and enhance the natural environment.

  5.  The new Integrated Agency should have an independent Scientific Advisory Committee providing advice on scientific matters, reviewing the quality of its research and contributing specialist knowledge on the wide range of issues that it will face.

  6.  English Nature has a core of scientific specialists who support area staff who have primarily an advisory and delivery function. These specialists are responsible for both commissioning and, in some cases, undertaking much of the research programme. The new Integrated Agency will inherit the Rural Delivery Service core of advisory and delivery staff, but it is not clear that there will be a corresponding transfer of scientific specialists to support them. It is important that the new Integrated Agency has a strong specialist science support role so that it can be drawn upon in times of emergency and to ensure that its day-to-day work is underpinned by sound science.

  7.  To achieve a clear position on the state of natural resources the Integrated Agency must be able to define policies for monitoring and surveillance and to commission research independently of Government. It is also prudent that the new Integrated Agency is charged with national surveillance of plant and animal disease and invasive species. The Integrated Agency should be required to produce an annual statement of the quantity and quality of natural resources it is responsible for and provide an account of factors driving change.

  8.  The formation of the Integrated Agency provides an opportunity for Defra to develop its science base. For example, it should be given sufficient resources so that it can use part of its science budget to support applied research in systematics (which would also meet the concerns of the House of Lords Select Committee for Science & Technology it raised in 1992 and again in 2002).

ECOSYSTEM APPROACH

  9.  The new Integrated Authority has the benefit, as the Government states, of working at a landscape scale. Landscapes may, however, encompass several ecosystems. The Integrated Authority should, therefore, also recognise that many processes also operate at an ecosystem scale and act to ensure that human activity does not degrade ecosystems and their goods and services. The UK is a signatory of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which requires that it adopt an ecosystem approach to environmental management. An ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way.

  10.  An ecosystem approach to rural policy and delivery is essential if the new Integrated Agency is going to deliver its remit of sustainable development. Human well being—economic, social, and cultural—is dependent upon improved management of the UK's and the Earth's ecosystems. Conservation of ecosystem structure and function to provide ecosystem services should be a priority for the new Integrated Agency. An ecosystem approach must be founded on strong science and be developed with full engagement with natural scientists.

FORESTRY COMMISSION

  11.  The benefit of having an Integrated Agency for rural service delivery is that there is a more co-ordinated approach for the conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. In order to achieve this, the Government needs to give further consideration to the relationship between the new Integrated Agency and the Forestry Commission.

  12.  There is an issue as to where the boundaries of responsibilities lie between the Forestry Commission and the new Integrated Agency. In the Government's proposal, the Forestry Commission is not integrated into the Integrated Agency. If the new Agency is to deliver an integrated approach to land management, the Forestry Commission must be brought into the Integrated Agency. If there is not a full merger there should be exploration of whether some areas of the Forestry Commission's work should become the responsibility of the new Integrated Agency.

NATIONAL NATURE RESERVES

  13.  The network of National Nature Reserves must be fully protected in the integration process. These are an important scientific as well as conservation resource. However, as neither the Rural Delivery Service or the Countryside Agency are land-holders and the emphasis of the new Integrated Agency is on delivery via advice and incentives there is a risk that the National Nature Reserves will not be fully incorporated into the activities of the new Integrated Agency. This might be an area where a closer link with Forest Enterprise's holdings might be considered.

CONSERVATION OF NON-RURAL AREAS

  14.  Nature conservation has a wider remit than just in rural areas. Urban, marine and coastal environments also need considerable attention from a competent agency with sufficient resources. The Government needs to take appropriate action to ensure that non-rural environments are also conserved.

RELATIONSHIP WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS

  15.  Amongst English Nature and the Rural Delivery Service staff, there are many members of the British Ecological Society who value the contribution the BES provides in terms of contributing to lecture programmes and facilitating specialist groups. The BES believes that dialogue between researchers and end users of ecological science is important and we would hope to see this reinforced, not diminished, in the new Integrated Agency.

MANAGING CHANGE

  16.  As with any re-organisation there will be a period of uncertainty and confusion during the changeover. There is a risk that scientific programmes will suffer because it may not be clear what issue will still be a priority for the new organisation. It is important that during the transition, the continuity of information and programmes are part of the process of merging the organisations.

STREAMLINING FUNDING SCHEMES

  17.  The plethora of current schemes is clearly of concern to farmers in particular. Schemes may need to be streamlined, but more importantly, perhaps, a set of schemes is needed that are accompanied by appropriate management advice. It is important that no new schemes are launched unless they are accompanied by evidence-based advice on how land managers might actually act to enhance ecological resources.

20 September 2004





 
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