New guide on mitigating impact of avian influenza in wild birds published
In today's blog we look at the publication of a new guide to support landowners and charities with the threat of avian influenza
Updated: Thu Sep 01 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
Towards fusion energy regulation
As we prepare to regulate fusion energy facilities, Amber Bannon, our fusion lead, talks about visits to Culham, the home of fusion in the UK and the hottest site in the solar system.
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
UK Government's action to halt bird flu outbreaks
In today's blog we look at the action being taken across the UK to tackle the devastating bird flu outbreaks.
Updated: Tue Aug 02 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
Environment Agency issues warning on salmon stocks
Yesterday (25 July 2022), the Environment Agency published the latest annual salmon stock assessment, warning that action is needed if stocks are to stabilise and recover.
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
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
Government action to tackle air pollution
Today's blog looks at Government action to tackle air pollution
Updated: Fri Jul 08 2022
Preparing your fishery for the summer
Spring and summer can trigger a range of problems for fisheries, and it's important to understand how to prepare and protect them. It's vital that anglers and fishery managers recognise the risks posed by warmer weather; remain vigilant for signs ...
Updated: Fri Jul 08 2022
I-VMS update 5
It's really encouraging that so many vessels across our English inshore have installed their onboard I-VMS devices and received the grant funding to re-imburse their costs, but we realise there is still much work to do. We have now hit ...
Updated: Thu Jul 07 2022
Emma Howard Boyd speech on finance, resilience, net zero and nature
Today there has been widespread coverage of warnings by Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency and Interim Chair of the Green Finance Institute, of how widespread greenwashing is compromising efforts to prepare for climate impacts. Her comments have ...
Updated: Mon Jul 04 2022
UK escalates support for global marine environment at UN Ocean Conference
New initiatives announced by the UK Government at the UN Ocean Conference this week to progress our mission to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 have received coverage in outlets including the Independent, Evening Standard and ...
Updated: Thu Jun 30 2022
15 years of technological advances since the 2007 floods
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 ...
Updated: Fri Jun 24 2022
Conservation comes full circle - Natural England licenses translocation of red kites to aid conservation efforts in Spain.
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 ...
Updated: Fri Jun 24 2022
The latest from the Fertiliser Taskforce
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.
Updated: Thu Jun 23 2022