Land managers on front line of climate change

Land managers are literally on the front line in the battle to tackle the effects of climate change, says the Country Land and Business Association (CLA). As international attention focuses on the impact of climate change, energy prices rise and EU Environment and Agriculture ministers meet in London over the weekend, the CLA set out how land managers are uniquely qualified to reduce greenhouse gases and provide sources of green energy.

CLA President Mark Hudson said, "There is no single panacea to climate change but agriculture and land management has an exceptional and positive role to play. This role includes providing sinks for carbon dioxide in soils and trees; enabling the substitution of renewable bioenergy and wind power for fossil fuels; and enabling construction and other industries to use timber instead of concrete and other materials whose manufacture is highly polluting.

"Furthermore, property owners could be contracted to provide soft defences against flooding by allowing their land next to coast and rivers to act as washlands, absorbing the water and keeping it away from towns and villages.

"To make the best use of these opportunities, both for the future health of our planet and for the best contribution to our economy, we need a coherent approach from the public and private sector. We urge the Government to work with land managers, to give them the support and flexibility they need to help reduce greenhouse gases and ameliorate the affects of climate change whilst providing jobs and investment opportunities in the UK."