Tag: DEFRA

New Social Media Campaign Urges DEFRA to Legislate Against Cages

Stuart Mitchell

On last months World Egg Day, Compassion in World Farming has launched a new social media advertising campaign, aimed at mobilising consumer pressure on DEFRA to legislate against caged systems for laying hens. Timed to start on this global awareness day celebrating eggs, the six-week campaign features a compelling animation that starkly contrasts the life of a caged hen with one that has more freedom to engage in natural behaviours like flapping, perching and dustbathing, once released from confinement. The initiative forms part of Compassion’s wider programme to end caged…

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Crackdown on water firms sees millions invested into local action

Stuart Mitchell

Up to £11 million in water company fines and penalties will be reinvested back into a new Water Restoration Fund (WRF), Environment Secretary Steve Barclay announced in April.  All water company environmental fines and penalties since April 2022 have been ringfenced to directly improve the water environment. The Water Restoration Fund will offer grant funding on a competitive basis to support local groups, farmers and landowners and community-led schemes, bolstering their capacity and capabilities for on-the-ground projects to improve the water environment. This could include activities that improve biodiversity and…

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Thousands of hectares of UK peatlands set to be restored to help tackle climate change

Stuart Mitchell

Thousands of hectares of peatlands – from the Great North Bog to the Norfolk Broads – are set to be restored with twelve new projects awarded funding to help tackle climate change and recover biodiversity. The Government is investing over £50 million in peat restoration, building on its pledge to restore approximately 35,000 hectares of peatland in England by the end of this Parliament, and leave the environment in a better state for future generations. Peatlands are an iconic feature of England’s landscape – often referred to as ‘our national…

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BSI and Defra launch Nature Investment Standards Programme

Stuart Mitchell

BSI, in its role as the UK National Standards Body, recently announces the launch of a Nature Investment Standards Programme in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), starting with a discovery phase. This is one of a suite of interventions the UK government is putting in place as part of its forthcoming Green Finance Strategy and Nature Markets Framework to boost market confidence and increase private sector investment into nature recovery and nature-friendly farming. This will ultimately help to accelerate progress on environmental goals such…

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Sale of horticultural peat to be banned in move to protect England’s precious peatlands

Stuart Mitchell

All sales of peat to amateur gardeners in England will be banned by 2024, the UK Government has announced. Peatlands are the UK’s largest carbon store but only approximately 13% of our peatlands are in a near-natural state. This degradation has occurred due to drainage for agricultural use, overgrazing and burning, as well as extraction for use in growing media. Bagged retail growing media accounts for 70% of the peat sold in the UK and is frequently misused, for example being used as a soil improver rather than a medium…

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