Producing more food while impacting less on the environment presents the biggest challenge in establishing an efficient and effective use of our ecosystems and services, the NFU has said after today’s publication of the National Ecosystem Assessment report.
The NEA, the first UK-wide assessment of ecosystem services and the state of the natural environment since 1945, also sets out a number of future scenarios and looks at possible policies and practices that might have to be put in place to protect ecosystems in the future.
NFU chief environment adviser Dr Diane Mitchell said: “By 2050 the global population will be approaching nine billion and, with the added challenge of climate change, food shortages are likely.
“UK agriculture is likely to be well-positioned to play a key role in meeting food needs in this country but also contributing to global food demands. We already import a large amount of our food and it would be foolish to become more dependent.
“There will be a need for us to produce more food but with three-quarters of the UK land area in agricultural management we recognise that farmers and growers carry a unique responsibility for managing the countryside.
“We are keen to demonstrate that food production and managing additional ecosystem services that the natural environment provides, such as biodiversity, can go hand-in-hand. We hope that the publication of the NEA helps move the debate on to how we can produce more but impact less.”
However, Dr Mitchell urged caution on the economic valuations assigned to ecosystem services.
She added: “The model used is far too simplistic and uncertain. Market prices are used to capture the value of agricultural produce, which is then compared against the value of non- market goods like biodiversity.
“Using such a crude technique does not take into account the fact that market power diminishes farm gate prices to a level below the value which consumers place on their food, as well as ignoring the likely increases in food prices expected over the next 50 years.”
The NEA will act as a key piece of evidence for the forthcoming Natural Environment White Paper.
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