The Government has decided to limit to 12% the amount of money that will be transferred from payments to farmers for schemes that help wildlife and improve the quality of the countryside.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) fears this means some areas of the countryside will miss out when it comes to benefitting from green farming scheme measures. This could result in less maintenance and enhancement of landscape features, such as hedgerows and dry stone walls, which contribute to the character of the countryside.

CPRE had called on the Government to transfer the maximum 15% from farming payments, to maximise the value for money to the public and to give wildlife habitats and landscape features the support they need. However, CPRE is pleased that Defra has recognised concerns that the new green farming scheme needs to make maintaining landscape character a higher priority.

Ian Woodhurst, Senior Farming Campaigner for CPRE, said:

‘CPRE is disappointed that the Government has failed to give the countryside and the public what they deserve by not giving green farming schemes the funding boost they needed. We have serious concerns that the new green farming scheme will be severely limited in its scope; particularly when it comes to improving the quality of our much loved landscapes that are so vital to the rural economy.’