A Euro Haze Descends to create 'A Perfect Storm'.......

Well, after an unprecedented night including the resignation of our Prime Minister, it seems a slender minority have pushed the BREXIT movement so we are now faced with leaving the EU. But where does this leave farmers who claim subsidies from Europe or indeed the future for British wildlife? 

On the farming side, the alternative plans for subsidy support to replace basic payment and rural development schemes are hazy. The average farm support subsidy across the EU is around  €12,200, and whilst this may not seem a great deal - it is often the difference between profit and loss for small sized agri-businesses. A few months ago the Yorkshire Agricultural Society gazed Nostradamus-like into the future and concluded rather gloomily that BREXIT would not be beneficial for UK farmers (link to report here). Today the National Farmers Union have re-iterated the fact that British farmers face a period of uncertainty (link to statement here).

Looking forwards, Defra will have its work cut out to try and create new national policies to provide synergy between the demand (and cost) for public goods and the need for higher farm income. Their subsequent steering will have to integrate food security, sustainable management for natural resources and climate and balanced territorial development – something that the CAP was always criticised for. With BREXIT creating additional fiscal instability, the idiom of 'public money for public goods' will no doubt rear its head more emphatically than ever before.

The confirmed exit from the EU may not provide a Halcyon paradise as some commentators suggest

For our native wildlife, there is no doubt that European Directives and Regulations have strengthened protection - either for individual species or for where they are found. Again, it is not clear either how or to what extent these policies would be replaced, but one can't help thinking that the loss of the European Protected Species as sanctioned through the Habitats Directive (1994) might be missed most of all. Worryingly, the Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management (CIEEM), the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) all concurred with a recent report by Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) that concluded the UK environment would be 'vulnerable' after exit (link to paper).

A sleepy hazel dormouse - one of the native species that until today received extra legislative protection through EU Directives. Pic: J Littlemore. 

Whilst the debate has clearly been an emotive issue where political manoeuvring has been a clear impetus and the media frenzy concerning immigration seems to have swayed public opinion, the future of farming and of conservation is clearly in the balance. It will now require a steady hand at the tiller to steer a way through this particular perfect storm......

The views expressed by the author of this article are theirs alone.