Two key events affecting land use and
policy are scheduled for March this year: the launch of the
Land Use Policy Group (LUPG) vision for the future of the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the Agri-Environmental Schemes
Seminar.
The events mark the end of the Countryside
Council for Wales (CCW) reign as Chair of the LUPG, which is a very
active group consisting of CCW, Environment Agency, Northern
Ireland Environment Agency, JNCC, Natural England and Scottish
Natural Heritage.
Commissioner Fischer Boel to speak at launch of LUPG
vision for CAP
The LUPG vision sets out the principles we
believe should underpin a reformed CAP post-2013. The full document
was launched in Brussels at the Bibliothe que Solvay, adjacent to
the European Parliament on 30 March. Speakers included the European
Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer
Boel, as well as representatives from LUPG, the European Landowners
Organisation and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.
The event was chaired by the Institute for European
Environmental Policy.
Agri-Environmental Schemes
Seminar
The LUPG has recently commissioned several
pieces of work to help develop our thinking on the future direction
of agri-environment policy. The Agri-Environmental Schemes Seminar
on 10 March aimed to present this work, provide an opportunity to
debate the findings,and look at how best to apply these ideas in
the context of future CAP reform.
The seminar was constructed around three
reports, all available on the LUPG website:
- A review of environmental
benefits from agri-environment schemes;
- Delivering environmental
benefits through agri-environment programmes: a scoping study;
and
- An analysis of the
potential effectiveness of the payment-by-results approach to the
delivery of environmental goods and services supplied by
agri-environment schemes.
JNCC looks forward to working with Natural
England in their capacity as incoming Chair of LUPG, and wishes to
express our thanks to John Taylor, Chair LUPG, Brian Pawson, Chair,
Rural Affairs Group, and Hilary Miller, Chair, Woodland Policy
Group for all their hard work over the last two years.
Amanda Gregory
LUPG Secretariat
Tel: +44 (0) 1733 866811
Email: