Did you know there are more than 242,000km of watercourses in England? Our rivers, lakes, ponds, estuaries, and wetlands cut across and connect many landscapes, providing natural corridors for wildlife and supporting a wealth of biodiversity. However, our nation's wildlife ...
Today's blog covers Defra's response to media coverage on Thames Water.
Since we opened the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for applications, we've continued to refine the scheme. One of the things we've been monitoring is the impact of those actions which take land out of food production. In this post, we'll explain why we're putting area limits on some SFI actions.
Today (Wednesday 27 March) we have published storm overflow (Event Duration Monitoring data) for the 2023 calendar year. Event Duration Monitors record the number and duration of spills from storm overflows. To view mapped data visit Storm Overflow Spill Frequency (arcgis.com) ...
With the deadline fast approaching, I want to encourage horticulture growers and farmers in England - and contractors to them - to consider applying for a grant offered through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2024 (FETF).
In this episode of the Farming podcast, our lead for healthier animals, Martin Jenkins, talks to dairy farmer Karen Halton. They are joined by infectious disease expert and vet James Russell. They explain what to expect from the SFI annual health and welfare review,
When we make a cup of tea, coffee, or get a cold drink from the tap, we sometimes take for granted the huge journey that the water has been on. We may not be aware of the amount of work ...
Nature Recovery Advisor MacBradan Bones shares his tips on managing your woodland in spring.
You can now apply for an Animal Health and Welfare grant through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) 2024. These grants go towards the cost of items on a list that support animal health and welfare. We developed the list with farmers, vets and other experts. There are over 130 items on the list and 29 are new for this round. You'll see a range of items: from mobile cattle handling systems to enclosed piglet creeps to poultry perches. If you're a livestock farmer, it's worth taking a look.
On Thursday 14 March, we're holding a webinar for livestock and grassland farmers to learn more about the funding opportunities available in England in 2024. A link to register for the webinar is included in this post.
On Thursday 29 February, we held a webinar for arable and field horticulture growers in England. In this post, I'll share the recording and summarise the themes that emerged in the questions and I'll set out the best ways for you to get answers.
We look at coverage on the launch of a consultation setting out next steps for the Government's TB eradication strategy.
Between March and June every year, many coarse (freshwater) fish will be preparing to spawn (breed and lay eggs), spawning, or recovering from spawning. This can be both stressful and exhausting and if they are disturbed, they may well decide ...
When you apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), we want your experience to be smooth and we want to offer you as much flexibility as possible. In this post, we'll set out what you can do and what we're doing to make the process of applying as straightforward as it can be, so you can join the 14,000 other farmers, growers and land managers who've already applied.
By Dr Tim Hill, Chief Scientist at Natural England Science, evidence and evaluation sit at the heart of Natural England. Our teams work across a range of ecological, earth, economic and social sciences. With a strong focus on collaboration with ...
I am pleased to say you can now apply for a productivity and slurry management grant through the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF). In this post, I'll set out the process to apply, links to the guidance and details of an upcoming webinar to learn more.
We want farmers and land managers in England to confidently and securely access payments from both the public and private sector for the environmental benefits and food they produce. In this post, we'll give a summary of our work and the initiatives supporting our ambitions in this space.
Today we are looking at coverage following the launch of our fairer food labelling consultation.
Mark Pilcher, Land and Water team leader in West Cornwall, talks about our demanding work to inspect one of the largest abstractors of water in the south-west. The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for regulating water in England - its ...
In this post, we'll give you a summary of the grants to look out for this year.
Today, we are looking at coverage of today's announcement that water companies have committed £180m in fast-tracked investment to prevent sewage spills.
We're committed to ensuring that the policies underpinning our environmental land management schemes are based on the very latest and best possible evidence. One evidence source is the recently published qualitative environmental impact assessment (QEIA). In this post I'll give an overview.
Many wild animals and plants are protected by legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. As nature conservation adviser and regulator, one of Natural England's roles is to licence ...
By David Renwick, Regional Director for the North at Natural England Last week saw a momentous week for nature across the north with the second annual Nature North conference in Newcastle and the Convention of the North in Leeds. As ...
Our blog on 1 February explained how we approach monitoring, sampling and testing of bathing waters and our approach to keeping public informed and warned when there are short term risks of pollution which bathers would rightly want to be ...
