More opportunities to put your questions to us
We're going to do a monthly Q&A session on The Farming Forum. In this post, I'll share our approach to Q&As and the upcoming themes and dates of future sessions.
Updated: Wed Dec 15 2021
Working together to protect important marine habitats in Studland Bay
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) recently announced the introduction of a voluntary no-anchor zone in Studland Bay Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) In this blog, Chris Graham from MMO's Marine Conservation Team answers questions that came up during the consultation. ...
Updated: Wed Dec 15 2021
Fisheries catch limits agreed and licencing discussions conclude
UK secures £190m worth of fishing opportunities for fishing industry
Updated: Tue Dec 14 2021
Broadwater Brook urban chalk stream restoration
In today's blog we look at how the Environment Agency helped to restore 1km of urban chalk stream in West Sussex. By Gareth Williams, Environment Programme manager Solent and South Downs In order to restore one chalk stream in ...
Updated: Tue Dec 07 2021
US market to open doors to UK lamb from 2022
There has been widespread coverage in the Independent, Express, Evening Standard, City AM, the Scotsman, Press and Journal, as well as others, of our announcement that exports of British lamb to the US market can resume from next year after ...
Updated: Mon Dec 06 2021
Cefas and Industry science collaboration: commercial catch sampling in the age of COVID
This is the third in a series of short blogs focussing on Cefas' fisheries science work in partnership with the fishing industry. Cefas Scientist, Jon Elson, who is responsible for the Cefas commercial catch sampling programme, is the next of ...
Updated: Fri Dec 03 2021
The furniture upcycler who fixed his mistake after illegally entering the waste trade
Ed Troughton, Waste Crime Engagement Specialist at the Environment Agency, provides his insights into tackling the handling of illegal waste without a permit. My three-year-old son spends most of his time making a mess. Sometimes he'll spill food or his ...
Updated: Fri Dec 03 2021
Introducing the Moorland and Rough Grazing Standard
I recently joined the Sustainable Farming Incentive team to help develop some of the standards for 2022/23. In particular, those focused on upland farming and moorland management. In this post, I'll share more about the Moorland and Rough Grazing Standard.
Updated: Thu Dec 02 2021
Making the Sustainable Farming Incentive work for tenants
We are developing our new environmental land management schemes so that there is an offer for all farm types. This includes tenants on tenanted land. In this post, I'd like to share how we're designing the Sustainable Farming Incentive so that tenants can access the scheme in a fair and straightforward way.
Updated: Thu Dec 02 2021
The Sustainable Farming Incentive: what's new, improved and coming in 2022
Today we published further information on the Sustainable Farming Incentive. You can find it, in full, on GOV.UK. In this post, I'll share a summary of the things that are new, the things we've changed following feedback and what you can expect in 2022.
Updated: Thu Dec 02 2021
Nuffield Report on Gene Editing
A look into recent coverage on the Nutfield Report on gene editing
Updated: Wed Dec 01 2021
How farmers in protected landscapes are using their funding
You might remember that the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme opened for applications in July. In August, we shared a video made by some of our Protected Landscape colleagues about the sorts of projects that were eligible for funding. In this post, I'd like to share some examples of the things land managers and farmers are doing with their funding.
Updated: Mon Nov 29 2021
Cefas and industry science collaborations: Fisheries monitoring, the electronic age
This is the second in a series of short blogs focussing on Cefas' fisheries science work in partnership with the fishing industry. Cefas Scientist, Rebecca Skirrow, who is the technical lead on Cefas' Scientific Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) Programme, is ...
Updated: Thu Nov 18 2021
New offence to crack down on dog theft
In today's blog we look at a new criminal offence to punish those who steal dogs.
Updated: Thu Nov 18 2021
Blue Belt Programme Overseas Territories playing their part in tackling Climate change
Throughout COP26 (October 31st - November 12th) we have shared with you the potential impacts of climate change being faced by the Blue Belt overseas territories. But we have also shown you the work that is being planned and undertaken ...
Updated: Wed Nov 17 2021
Integrated Marine Management - Working with People for Nature
Marianne Teoh, Senior Integrated Marine Manager, Blue Belt Programme One of the newest recruits to the Blue Belt Team is Marianne Teoh. Marianne is an interdisciplinary scientist and marine manager, who joined us from Fauna & Flora International in Cambodia, ...
Updated: Tue Nov 16 2021
The Farming Investment Fund launches today
I'm pleased to say that the Farming Investment Fund launches today. The fund provides grants to farmers, growers, and foresters (including related contractors) so that they can invest in the things they need to improve productivity and enhance the natural environment. In this post, I'll share how you can apply and find out more.
Updated: Tue Nov 16 2021
Environment Act coverage
Today we are looking at media coverage of the Environment Act which passed into law yesterday.
Updated: Wed Nov 10 2021
Environment Bill storm overflows amendment
Today we are looking at media coverage of following the passage of the Government's storm overflows amendment to the Environment Bill.
Updated: Tue Nov 09 2021
Learning to tackle our carbon footprints - individually and together
As COP 26 takes centre stage, we are all hoping for a sincere, global commitment to the urgent reduction in carbon emissions. We all want to do something, anything that will help us out of our climate crisis, right? This ...
Updated: Fri Nov 05 2021
The connection between the climate and nature crises
With the most important climate summit ever, COP26, taking place in Glasgow, the world must seek solutions for the nature crisis alongside the climate crisis. The Environment Agency's Deputy Director for Sustainable Business Van Griffiths explains. My name is Van ...
Updated: Fri Nov 05 2021
Bonfire night is no excuse to burn rubbish
Sam Pickard, Environment Officer for Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, discusses the regulations around planning a fire. Bonfires burning, sausages sizzling and fireworks fizzing, it seems innocent enough but there is a more sinister side to Guy Fawkes Night. ...
Updated: Thu Nov 04 2021
Farm visit: Challacombe Farm on Dartmoor
Farm visits are a useful way for us to understand the context in which farmers work and what's important to them. In this post, I'd like to share what I learned during a recent visit to Challacombe Farm on Dartmoor.
Updated: Thu Nov 04 2021
Flying high! Using drones to collect evidence of illegal waste sites
Kim Mynard, Regulatory Officer at the Environment Agency, discusses harnessing the power of drone technology to help take action against those causing harm to our environment. When I joined the Environment Agency about two and a half years ago, little ...
Updated: Thu Nov 04 2021
Partnership is king for positive progress
Lee Marrs, Intelligence Research Officer at the Environment Agency, discusses working with industry partners to prevent the illegal export of waste. Last month we took big strides towards our ambition to stop illegal export of waste to protect the environment ...
Updated: Thu Nov 04 2021