Released by 'Natural England' the 'State of the Natural Environment' report for 2008
Natural England published its State of the
Natural Environment report, in which it called for a new approach to the management of the natural environment to permit it
to adapt to what, lot of scientist are expecting will take place in next future: the climate change. But a good management
of natural environment, anyway, will also permit us to reduce the effect of the modern pressures of development on environment.
The Chief Executive of Natural England Dr Helen Phillips, said about this item:
"England needs a new approach to conservation if we are to tackle effectively the modern pressures on land created by climate
change and development. The natural environment is increasingly under threat, both within and especially away from protected areas.
"We need to find ways to manage our landscape to create a mosaic of uses so that we can help wildlife survive - be it through
a new 'national park' around the length of England's coastline, better use of the green belt or improved use of public funding
for farmers to deliver a better natural environment.
"If we don't act, there's a real danger some of our most precious wildlife will be lost forever and our lives will be poorer
for it," concluded Helen Phillips.
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-> to be continued at pg. 2)
(Some notes about the sustainable agriculture): These words recall our attention to the agricultural policy about
which other times 'Natural England' expressed its thoughts, particularly about the biodiversity protection of those lands
previously in set-aside. Anyway we know very well how much agricultural policies can, everywhere, influence the environmental
and landscape quality.
In order to get a better environment and landscape, is important to highlight,
European citizens subsidy a particular agricultural conservation policy that targets on a sustainable rural development,
supported by means of financial resources coming from the Rural Developments Plan (RDP), that all the regions of each European
nation realize (also) to increase the profitability of their low input agriculture.
There are different levels in practicing a low input farming: some farmers take care of applying to their
crop extensions simply 'good agricultural practices'; those practices are usually known as 'conservative agriculture' and some of these
ones are required in European agriculture according to the 'conditionality section' of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
In other situations 'good agricultural practices' application is checked according to some facultative certifying schemes.
All these practices usually act to prevent basic damages to the soil and the environment, like soil erosion, compactess
and to save the rate of soil organic matter.
An higher livel of environmental protection is that is checked by regional public bodies to ensure people that
is realized an integrated agriculture scheme of operations, planed in the RDPs, that comprise, for example, agricultural minimum, or
zero tillages, winter cover crops, integrated pest management, by means of the most recent low-impact agrochemicals and all the other
conservation measures and cultivation practice that anyway allow the farmer to go on having suitable harvests and yelds.
'Integrated agriculture' make use of those low inpact techinics permitting to get, at a same time, high productions and, if
we possibly can, low inpact on the natural environment. In order to get this aims usully a chemical pesticide is preferred
to a natural one, but this happens not always. For example Integrated Pest Management (IPM), as organic agriculture, make us
of pest insects predators, particularly in those situations in which pesticides are really no effective.