Environment, Food and Rural Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Countryside Alliance

The Countryside Alliance is the major British campaigning organisation on rural issues. With over 105,000 members the Countryside Alliance defends and promotes the rural way of life.

The Countryside Alliance welcomes this opportunity to respond to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee’s call for evidence on the Natural Environment White Paper (NEWP).

David Cameron came to power promising to deliver the greenest government ever and with the publishing of The Natural Choice, the first White Paper on the natural environment in 20 years, we see an agenda for a flourishing future for the natural environment. This is a much needed start in repairing the damage which has been done to the environment in the recent past, in the absence of an overarching strategy across Government.

While the Countryside Alliance recognises there is much to be welcomed in the NEWP we feel that the White Paper fails to acknowledge the role rural communities are already playing in managing the natural environment.

Any key elements in the White Paper which are supported

1. The Countryside Alliance welcomes in particular the encouraging statements about the importance of outdoor learning. We have long campaigned for greater freedom to get children out of the classroom and into the countryside. Our research has shown that 85% of children and young people want to take part in countryside activities at school, and 97% of teachers surveyed believed it is important for children to learn about the countryside within the National Curriculum.

2. However, Defra’s clear commitment to learning outside the classroom in the NEWP needs to be endorsed and supported by the Department for Education.

Any particular sections which could be improved

3. While the Countryside Alliance recognises there is much to be welcomed in the NEWP we feel that the White Paper fails to acknowledge the role rural communities are already playing in managing the natural environment.

4. The countryside is not an “experiment” or recreational area; it is a fully functioning and evolving environment which covers our country in its many varied forms. Management has to be local in order to remain sustainable and cannot be the result of centrally imposed diktats or targets. The vital importance of localism has always been key to the ethos of the Countryside Alliance; a belief in empowering people to take care of their own environment and reap the benefits of their labours.

5. The White Paper claims that “nature is sometimes taken for granted and undervalued”, but this is simply not the case for those thousands of individuals who love the countryside and have a vested interest in its future. The Government seems to have missed an opportunity to recognise and support the “Big Society” as it already exists in the countryside, where rural communities undertake hundreds of millions of pounds worth of unpaid conservation work each year for the benefit of all. It is our belief that the Government should make it a priority to support them in this role.

Any omissions from the White Paper which Defra should rectify

6. The Secretary of State has stated “we need to recognise that if we withdraw something from Mother Nature’s bank, we’ve got to put something back in to ensure that the environment has a healthy balance and a secure future”, which is right. The Natural Choice contains some bold policy recommendations, which if delivered will ensure a healthy balance and a secure future for the natural environment, but the White Paper contains no clear plan for delivery, nor is it backed up with sufficient resources to ensure its objective of a promising future for the natural environment.

21 June 2011