June and July 2007. The most severe and widespread inland flooding we have seen since 1947 with more than 55,000 properties flooded, mainly across Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Many more lost essential services such as ...
By John Holmes, Operations Director The most successful species reintroduction to England ever - the red kite - has come full circle this year, with Natural England licensing the translocation of red kites back to Spain to help bolster low ...
The Fertiliser Taskforce is made up of representatives from industry bodies and the UK's devolved administrations. The taskforce addresses the impact of global supply pressures on farming. It seeks to improve market confidence and help provide farmers with the information they need to make business decisions on fertiliser use. The second meeting of the Fertiliser Taskforce was chaired by Minister Churchill. In this post, I'll share a summary of the meeting.
There has been straight coverage reporting the COP15 biodiversity conference will be rescheduled to take place in Montreal, Canada in a number of outlets including the Guardian, BBC News Online, Business Green and iNews. The UK Government has welcomed confirmation ...
In today's blog we look at the launch of a new consortium bringing researchers from across the UK together to tackle bird flu
We are hosting a series of engagement sessions with fishers to kickstart conversations on development a Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) for demersal non quota stocks in the Channel. These events are just the start of our programme of engagement with ...
Today we are looking at Minister Churchill's visit to a flagship air quality monitoring site
Matt Holden is the Devon Beaver Project Lead for Devon Wildlife Trust. In this guest blog he introduces the work of Devon Wildlife Trust on beaver reintroduction in Devon.
We are supporting industry to meet the requirement to have an I-VMS device installed and operational before the introduction of the Statutory Instrument (SI), scheduled for late 2022. I-VMS will help us understand individual and fleet fishing patterns and ultimately ...
Actions include producing a new national assessment of flood risk, an updated national coastal erosion risk map and new long term investment scenarios, to better inform future investment decisions.
On Thursday 2 June, Fisheries Minister Victoria Prentis provided an update regarding the investigation into huge numbers of crabs and lobsters washed up along the coast of the North East last year.
It's hard to get started in farming, or any related land-based business. Newcomers to the industry (usually known as "new entrants") face all sorts of barriers. It's challenging for them to find land, secure finance and progress their businesses. When we published the Agricultural Transition Plan towards the end of 2020, we said that we would establish a support scheme for new entrants, and make the whole process easier. This blog post is an update on what we've learned so far by working collaboratively with people across the sector and the next steps.
Before Easter our Marine Conservation, South and Marine Planning teams met with recreational boat users in Studland Bay and held drop-in sessions and talks about the voluntary no anchor zone in the area. These talks were in aid of raising ...
Before we launched Improving Farm Productivity in January, we made the manual available for people to look at on GOV.UK. Feedback suggested you found this helpful. So, ahead of its launch in June, we are making the manual for the next theme available today: Adding Value. In June, you can apply for a grant for buildings, machinery or equipment so that producers can add value to eligible agricultural products after they are harvested or reared.
In November, we started to offer agreements to farmers taking part in the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot.  In this post, we'll share an overview of the things we've learned over the past 6 months and how we're incorporating them into the design of the full scheme.
As a farmer, I am only too aware of the financial pressures which force farmers to make short-term decisions to address an immediate need. This isn't always ideal for the environment and the sustainability of farming in the longer term. The marketplace is very good at driving the efficient production of high-quality grain, meat, milk and vegetables for today and tomorrow, but less so at rewarding high water quality, great soil or increasing the numbers of birds and insects over time. In this post, I'll explain how the Sustainable Farming Incentive will start to redress the balance and how it will reward farmers for delivering environmental benefits as well as efficient food production.
Today we are looking at media coverage of Defra's planned introduction of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) bill
Michael Rogers is Head of Conservation at Eden Rivers Trust. In this guest blog, Michael looks at how trees can benefit our watercourses, and shares experiences from the Croglin Valley in Cumbria to show the importance of planting the right tree in the right place.
The Brooks Family joined the pilot to help us improve the Sustainable Farming Incentive. For over a century, the family has worked on South Thorness Farm, which is found on the north-west coast of the Isle of Wight, within the Hamstead Heritage Coast Area Of Natural Beauty. Listen to how sisters Jess and Sarah, along with their parents Adrian and Joyce, run through the management of their farm and their decision to join the pilot.
A look into our Invasive Species Management Project
Today we are looking at coverage of the government response to the EAC report into water quality in rivers.
Today we are looking at media coverage of the OEP's report on the Government's 25 Year Environment Plan
On 18 November 2021, the Environment Agency and Ofwat announced major investigations into potential widespread non-compliance by water and sewerage companies at sewage treatment works. This update sets out what we're investigating and what has happened since we announced the investigation.
Rose Nankervis manages Wicca Farm on the north coast of Cornwall. In this video, Rose explains why she decided to take part in the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot.
We're bringing BPS payments forward. Farmers with eligible applications will receive half of their payment from the end of July, and the rest from December.
