Boost biodiversity with your woodland design
Discover 11 ways to boost biodiversity through your woodland design.
Updated: Wed Oct 19 2022
Regulating a nuclear reactor at the end of its life
In August Hinkley Point B's nuclear reactor '3' was switched off after 46 years of energy generation. Victoria Thomas, our Hinkley Point B nuclear regulator, talks about her work at the power station as it moves to the next stage of the nuclear life cycle.
Updated: Tue Oct 18 2022
Government committed to halting decline in nature
In today's blog we set out our commitment to the environment and respond to concerns raised by the National Trust and other environmental charities.
Updated: Wed Oct 12 2022
Environment Secretary vows to clamp down on fly-tipping
Today we are looking at an op-ed from the Environment Secretary in the Telegraph on the Government's action to tackle fly-tipping.
Updated: Mon Oct 10 2022
Defra response to reported recent increase in fatal dog attacks
There has been front page coverage in the Mirror today on the increasing number of dog attacks reported this year. These attacks are deeply distressing and our sympathy goes out to the families of those who have died as a ...
Updated: Thu Oct 06 2022
Lincolnshire farmer tells other farmers not to worry about Environment Agency check
Emma Billings provides an insight into the Environment Agency farm inspections taking place in Lincolnshire
Updated: Wed Oct 05 2022
Upcoming events
Forestry Commission teams will be attending the following events during October. Come along to speak with us about our work and how you can get involved. Why not share your visit to our stand on Twitter? Don't forget to tag ...
Updated: Wed Oct 05 2022
Water companies face new civil penalties up to £250million
There has been widespread media coverage of the Environment Secretary's announcement that he will bring forward proposals to raise the civil penalty for water companies who pollute the environment by 1,000-fold - from £250,000 to up to £250 million.
Updated: Tue Oct 04 2022
How Crimestoppers works with the Environment Agency to fight waste crime
Crimestoppers is an independent charity that gives people the power to speak up to stop crime, 100% anonymously. Anyone can contact us 24/7, 365 days a year, online and by phone.
Updated: Thu Sep 29 2022
Future Farming Podcast: Tenants, landlords and our new environmental schemes
In episode 9 of the Future Farming podcast, Defra's farming strategy lead, Briony Turner, talks to land use adviser Harry Greenfield of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and farm adviser Lynette Steel, of the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) about new environmental schemes.
Updated: Wed Sep 21 2022
Sustainable Farming Incentive: more farmers can apply without being invited
From 1 September, if you have land in a Countryside Stewardship or Environmental Stewardship agreement, but not on common land, you can now apply online directly by signing into the Rural Payments service.
Updated: Thu Sep 15 2022
Daily Mail coverage on the badger culling
There is inaccurate coverage in the Daily Mail today on Defra's involvement in a research paper published in Vet Record.
Updated: Tue Aug 30 2022
New research sheds light on marine biodiversity of South Sandwich Islands
Shaped by ice and fire, the volcanic South Sandwich Islands are a remote sub-Antarctic archipelago that have remained largely uninhabited since their discovery by polar explorers in the 18th century. In winter, sea ice extends northwards across the two hundred ...
Updated: Fri Aug 26 2022
Environmental Stewardship: an update
We recently wrote to everyone with Environmental Stewardship agreements to outline some changes that we plan to introduce in 2023. Rather than offering agreement holders an extension of a single year, we're offering extensions of 5 years. This change, shaped by feedback, gives greater certainty and clarity to people in existing agri-environment agreements. It also removes the burden of having to apply for an extension each year.
Updated: Thu Aug 25 2022
How to help young trees survive prolonged hot dry weather
Chris Watson, Forestry Commission Woodland Resilience Advisor, looks at the effects of prolonged hot and dry weather on trees and what you can do to help them survive.
Updated: Wed Aug 24 2022
Dry weather and water company performance
Today there has been widespread coverage of water company performance in light of ongoing dry weather.
Updated: Wed Aug 10 2022
£100 million for frequently flooded communities
Funding will be targeted at eligible communities where 10 or more properties have flooded twice or more in the last 10 years, helping to both accelerate existing projects and deliver new ones.
Updated: Tue Jul 26 2022
Future Farming Podcast: everything you need to know about the Sustainable Farming Incentive
In the latest episode of the Future Farming Podcast, Cambridgeshire farmer Martin Lines and Sustainable Farming Incentive lead Jonathan Marsden talk all things Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and environmental land management.
Updated: Tue Jul 26 2022
Addressing the possible shortfall of oak for the 2022/23 planting season
As we face the possibility of an insufficient supply of Oak for planting, find out how considering a more diverse mix of tree species can bring value to woodlands.
Updated: Fri Jul 22 2022
Catching fishers' view of the future of Channel non-pressure stocks
In June MMO colleagues visited 21 ports stretching from Kent to Cornwall to speak with commercial fishers about their experiences of fishing for non-quota species (NQS, also known as non-pressure stocks) - and their aspirations for future management of these ...
Updated: Fri Jul 22 2022
Apply for the Sustainable Farming Incentive
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) is now open for applications via the Rural Payments service. Through the SFI, farmers will be paid for looking after the natural environment in the course of their farming. This initial offer will pay farmers for taking care of their soil or assessing the condition of moorland. In this post, we'll share more about the application process.
Updated: Thu Jul 21 2022
Free business advice: next phase to start in October
Any farmer or land manager who receives BPS in England is eligible for free business advice during the early years of the agricultural transition. The current phase of support will close at the end of August. So far, 6,600 farmers have made use of this free advice. The final phase of support will open in October and will be scaled up.
Updated: Thu Jul 21 2022
How early roll out of the Sustainable Farming Incentive is going - an early update
It's been almost 2 weeks since we opened the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for applications, so we thought now would be a good time to share an update on how it's going so far.
Updated: Thu Jul 21 2022
Soil health: a UK-wide discussion
In this post, we'll share a summary of the second meeting of the UK Agriculture Partnership (UKAP). It was held at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in Northern Ireland. The topic of the meeting was soil health.
Updated: Thu Jul 21 2022
A day in the life of a bigeye tuna: tales from the south atlantic
On 12th December 2018, at 7am, a fish tagging team began fishing on the tuna grounds within St Helena, with the goal of tagging a number of yellowfin and bigeye tuna. The team, including staff from St Helena Government, Stanford ...
Updated: Wed Jul 13 2022