William WorsleyCLA and Local Landowner

The role of landowners in delivering Lawton in

conjunction with AONB partnerships

William Worsley

Change in the environment is not new, and is not the issue. What is new and of great concern is the pace and scale of the changes that modern society now places on the environment

This will require strong leadership from government, but is not a job for government alone.

It will require effective and positive engagement with the landowners and land managers.

And it will need improved collaboration between local authorities, local communities, statutory agencies, the voluntary and private sectors, farmers, other land-managers and individual citizens.

In recent times, management of land has often focused on the delivery of a single process or ecosystem service – food, for example, or timber.

As human impact on the environment increases, we will need to learn how to manage land (and water) to deliver multiple services from a given area so that, for example, we achieve profitable and productive farming whilst at the same time adopting practices which enhance carbon storage and slow the flow of flood waters and support wildlife.

It is obvious that statutory agencies with responsibility for the environment, and the voluntary conservation sector will both play a key role in delivering our vision.

Just as important, however, is the role of private landowners, land managers and farmers, many of whom invest resources in enhancing wildlife over and beyond the funding they receive through incentive schemes.

It is therefore important to engage effectively and positively with this sector. Our vision will only be achieved if society recognises the realities of managing the land and the true costs involved.

If we decide as a society what we want, and put the right incentives in place, then the private land sector will provide many of the solutions.

Private land has enormous potential to deliver many of the enhancements to the network that are needed. Just as landowners can play an important role as effective stewards of existing wildlife habitats, we believe that they should also be properly rewarded to do more to create new habitats.

This is a long-term commitment. Extending existing tax incentives to encourage the creation, improvement and long-term maintenance of wildlife habitats out of private resources would, we believe, be justified by the resulting environmental and social benefits.

Landowners could be encouraged to respond to the challenge by the promise of reliefs from capital taxation no more generous than those that farmers and the owners of family businesses have been routinely allowed for many years. Income tax incentives might also play a useful part.

Lawton Report - Recommendation 20. Government should consider extending tax incentives to encourage landowners to make long-term commitments to the creation of new wildlife habitats that benefit ecological networks.

AONB - With their origins in the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, AONBs are designated primarily to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the landscape. They also have two secondary aims: to meet the need for quiet enjoyment of the countryside and to have regard for the interests of those who live and work within them.

11.8% of the area of AONBs is also SSSI

Key messages

1. The value of looking at environmental land management on a landscape scale and the important role that estates play in this, as they have large areas of land under the management control of one owner

2. The importance of understanding the realities of managing the land and the true costs involved

3. Work with landowners and encourage, help and support them – the value of AONBs as facilitators