WIREDGOV

Following a meeting of its Board, Natural England has announced that an additional £72m will be spent on the natural environment this year.

Further to an additional £68m for green farming schemes, Natural England has announced that it will allocate an extra £4m this year towards protecting and enhancing the marine environment, improving biodiversity and researching renewable energy options in the Severn Barrage.

Despite the uncertainty in funding for the next two years, Natural England has also taken a decision to give funding certainty over a three-year period to our key partners.

Speaking after last week’s Natural England Board meeting, where resources for 2008/2009 were allocated, Dr Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, said: “Much-needed protection for the marine environment and researching ways of tackling climate change are top of Natural England’s priorities in the coming year. We have matched our funds against the most pressing environmental priorities - protecting threatened landscapes and wildlife, and pushing forward our work on climate change. This is a positive result for the natural environment.”

Activity spend for our protected landscapes and habitats including Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and National Nature Reserves (NNR) will be maintained at 07/08 funding levels, to a total of £17m.

In order to continue the good rate of progress in improving Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) announced earlier this month, Natural England has maximised the use of the Wildlife Enhancement Scheme (WES) with a budget of £9.5m, using more Higher Level Scheme (HLS) funding to support SSSI delivery.

There will be efficiency savings of £16.5m to Natural England’s budget over the next three years, including £1.1m through the recent termination of the Discovering Lost Ways project.

The £4 million yielded though reallocation of resource will be divided as follows:

• £2m for biodiversity
• £1m for marine work
• £0.5m for the European Landscape Convention
• £0.3m for evidence-gathering on the proposed Severn Barrage
• £0.3m for training to invest in our people’s delivery

Last December, the Natural England Board agreed a reduction of 150 staff through voluntary redundancy. This will achieve a £4m saving in 08/09 with higher savings in future years, which have been re-invested in delivery for the natural environment.

The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) settlement allows Natural England to increase funding for delivery of Schemes under the Programme, from £317m in 2007/08 to £385m in 2008/09.

Speaking about the RDPE settlement Dr Phillips continued: “Green farming has a major role to play in restoration of wildlife habitat and biodiversity, flood and carbon management in England and sustainable food production – it is vital that we continue to build on environmental success coming from this area of work.”

Notes for editors:

For further information contact the Natural England Press Office on 0845 603 9953, press@naturalengland.org.uk, out of hours 07970 098005. For further information about Natural England please visit: www.naturalengland.org.uk

Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings.