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Keynote speakers and panellists at "Whose Countryside is it anyway?," (from left to right) Sir Don Curry, John Gummer MP, Peter Kendall, NFU president and Poul Christensen, deputy director Natural England.



"The countryside is God's, but man is tasked with looking after it," said Sir Don Curry, chairman of the Sustainable Farming and Food Delivery Group, in his keynote address at this year's well attended ADAS sponsored, Environment Day Conference "Whose countryside is it anyway?" at the Royal Show on 4 July. "Farmers believe that they own the countryside and are responsible for it. The general public regard it as their territory but there is a general lack of appreciation about what the countryside delivers and people are becoming increasingly disconnected with what goes on there," he continued.

Mr John Gummer, MP and leader of the Conservative's Quality of Life Initiative expanded on this in his address and emphasised the need for people to reconnect with the reality of farming and the countryside. "Farming today is totally out of touch with the majority of people in Britain – the things that we take for granted in the countryside are not understood by the majority of the population. People, for example, don't seem to realise that if you don't eat meat then you won't have the sheep, lambs and cows in our fields. The animals in the countryside are not pets. We can't be sentimental about this – we need to tell the story as it is."

"The countryside is best owned by private individuals rather than by public authorities," continued Mr Gummer. He believes it is private ownership that has helped to create greater diversity and variety within the countryside. As individuals interpret the needs of the countryside to fit in with their particular farm business so a more diverse landscape is created. "The farming industry needs to ensure that there is a balance between food and energy production and maintaining the environment in a sustainable way," he concluded.

Environmental stewardship was applauded as being of vital importance to improving biodiversity, creating habitats for Britain's flora and fauna and ensuring the future of the
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countryside. "Some 30% of eligible agricultural land is now embracing Entry Level Stewardship (ELS). Hopefully this figure will soon rise to 60% as new options provide new opportunities for other land managers to qualify for Environmental Stewardship agreements.. More people are getting enthusiastic about it and I believe we have turned a corner and are really making progress. If cross compliance and stewardship were merged into one system, then this would help all environmental issues. However, farmers cannot expect to deliver stewardship without government commitment and so taxpayer's support. It could all backfire if funding issues are not resolved," cautioned Sir Don.

Allowing greater access into the countryside will help educate the public. The public needs to see and care about what their money is supporting. They need to reconnect with the countryside and appreciate how farmers are looking after it. "The countryside is a workplace to produce food. If the public wants access to it, it must do so at its own risk. As a society we have become too safety conscious, especially towards the younger generation. They need to learn about life in the countryside as it is, not how we'd like it to be" warned John Gummer.

A lively debate followed with panellists Peter Kendall, NFU president, Poul Christensen, deputy chairman of Natural England chairman Dr Andrée Carter director of Science and Environment, ADAS. In her closing remarks Dr Carter concluded that "Private ownership of the countryside will mean an individual interpretation of the needs of the land for different farm businesses. This will help to create diversity that will continue to change over time. Management of the countryside, in a sustainable way, is a very important issue and agriculture has a critical part to play for the foreseeable future."

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