Campaigners call for ‘Domesday’ survey of nature efforts by large landowners

Campaigners have called for an “ecological Domesday survey” requiring large landowners to report on how they are looking after their land for nature.

They say the assessment, so-called for its echoes of the Domesday survey nearly a thousand years ago in 1086 that asked landowners to report on the land they owned, would help deliver a much-needed boost for nature.

Landowners with 1,000 acres or more should be required to submit wildlife surveys and plans for how they will restore habitats, species and carbon stores every five years, which should be made available online to the public, the leading conservationists say.

Conservation campaigners warn that if the Government is to meet its targets to halt declines in species, protect 30% of land for nature by 2030 and plant woodlands and restore peat to meet climate goals, new policies to encourage landowners to do more for nature are needed.

Large landowners have a particular responsibility to restore nature to these dewilded isles, yet not all of them are stewarding the land well

The UK has been described as one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth.

And while the Government has signed up to global targets to conserve 30% of land and seas for nature to help reverse “catastrophic” declines in biodiversity, its own analysis says 7% of England’s land is effectively protected for nature.

In a letter to environment ministers, conservationists say that over the past three decades, landowners and farmers have been paid £9 billion in environmental and countryside stewardship payments.

But while in some cases this has worked well to support wildlife, many habitats are in decline because of the way they are managed, the letter warns.

The letter’s signatories welcomed the transition to post-Brexit environmental land management schemes (Elms) which aim to pay landowners for “public goods” such as clean water and habitat creation, but said there was a need for landowners to be made more accountable for how they manage land.

This would ensure public money is well spent, nature restored, carbon sinks such as peatland are repaired and national parks and national landscapes are being properly cared for.

And with 16.7 million acres of England owned by just 25,000 landholdings, a small number of private and institutional landowners have a “particular responsibility to care for the land on behalf of the wider public”, the letter says.

Under the proposal, landowners in possession of 1,000 acres or more would be required every five years to send the Environment Department (Defra) a map of their landholdings and a baseline ecological survey that was subsequently updated.

And landowners would have to set out plans for how they intend to restore habitats, species and carbon over the next five years, including how they would support tenant farmers on their land to deliver this.

Signatories to the letter include the chief executives of the Campaign for National Parks, CPRE, and Wildlife and Countryside Link.

At the moment, we scarcely know the state of wildlife and habitats in our National Parks, let alone in the wider countryside

Guy Shrubsole, campaigner and author of The Lie Of The Land, who co-ordinated the letter, said: “Wildlife and habitats in England are on life support: the government accepts that just 7% of the nation is properly protected for nature at present, and it has a mountain to climb to protect 30% by 2030.

“Large landowners have a particular responsibility to restore nature to these dewilded isles, yet not all of them are stewarding the land well.

“With half of England owned by less than 1% of the population, it’s only reasonable that big estates should report publicly on how they’ll take better care of the land,” he said.

Richard Benwell, chief executive of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “Private land ownership shouldn’t be an impenetrable barrier. The public has a legitimate interest in the way privately held land is managed, where landowners’ choices can affect the future of entire ecosystems.

“At the moment, we scarcely know the state of wildlife and habitats in our National Parks, let alone in the wider countryside.

“As we race to meet the promise to protect 30% of the land for nature by 2030, the Government could make real progress by asking landowners to share information about the wildlife and habitats in their care.

“What better basis for a plan to stop ecological decline and reward the best environmental stewardship in the way it deserves?”

A Defra spokesperson said: “Nature underpins everything. That’s why this Government is working with landowners and a wide range of stakeholders, to deliver on our legally binding environment targets, and to keep to our international commitments of protecting 30% of the UK’s land and sea by 2030.”

They added the Government had announced the largest farming budget for sustainable food production and nature recovery and was optimising the Elms programme to ensure the “best outcomes” for farmers, landowners and nature.