The Rural Economy and Land Use Programme

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• The Rural Economy and Land Use Programme
• Science Communications Manager Anne Liddon
• www.relu.ac.uk

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Which produces more carbon growing tomatoes
locally or importing them?
How much water does it take to grow a tomato?
What are consumers looking for when they buy
tomatoes?
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Why do farmers seem to be at lower risk of
contracting E coli 0157?
What do people think the risks are of contracting
E coli from farm animals?
How could we make consumers safer and what would
it cost?
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What part do the uplands play in storing carbon
and mitigating climate change?
What do people living in the uplands want from
the landscape?
How can we tackle the problem of discoloured
water?
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Have we got the balance right between protecting
the environment and food production? Is rural
land management the problem or the solution to
flooding in our towns and cities? What is rural
land for?
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We do not have a coherent strategy for land use
in the UK. Policy is ad hoc and designed to
achieve short-term political gain. It is
reactive rather than pre-emptive and the balance
between environmental, social and commercial
consideration is heavily weighted in favour of
the environment.
Agriculture policy is moving out of the dark days
of scant environmental awareness, but were far
from a positive environmental footprint.
RSPB Director of Conservation Mark Avery
Land Manager Mark Tinsley
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• Secretary of State launches Relu's Great Land Use
  Debate  
•  
• Relu's Great Land Use Debate goes on line with
  our first big question
• Have we got the balance right between protecting
  the environment and food production?
• Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
  Rural Affairs Hilary Benn is launching the
• debate and encouraging everyone with an interest
  in land use to contribute. He said
• We all have a stake in the countryside and it's
  important that we all have a say in its
• future. I am therefore delighted that Relu is
  launching this debate on rural land use as part
• of its contribution to National Science Week. As
  a society we need to take a fundamental
• look at how we use and value our rural land an
  what sort of countryside we want future
  generations to
• inherit.
• Click on the link to read opinions from Land
  Manager Mark Tinsley and RSPB Director of
• Conservation Mark Avery and tell us what YOU
  think.

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• What is rural land for?
• Click on the link below to read opinions from
  Professor Les Firbank of
• The Institute of Grassland and Environmental
  Research and Tony Burton
• of the National Trust and have your say on our
  final big question.
• Relus Great Land Use Debate has now been on line
  since Friday 7 March,,with
• some lively discussion on Have we got the
  balance right between protecting
• the environment and food production?
• And Is rural land management the problem or the
  solution to flooding in our towns and
• cities?
• There is still time to comment on these topics
  and to add your voice to the debate.

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News gt NewsAllLivestockArableDairyPoultryMachine
ryBusinessLocalFarmers urged to enter land use
debate07/03/2008 163800FWi

• A week long nationwide online debate (7-14
  March) has been launched
• around the question Have we got the balance
  right between protecting
• the environment and producing food? The
  Great Land Use Debate is
• being hosted by the UK Research Councils Rural
  Economy and Land
• Use Programme during the Festival of Social
  Science/National Science
• and Engineering Week.  It will air opinions from
  key thinkers and there
• is an invitation for everyone with an interest in
  land use to contribute.
• One of the opening shots has come from
  Lincs grower Mark Tinsley
• who said that farmers and land managers in the UK
  are getting a raw
• deal because the emphasis on environmental
  protection has gone too
• far

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I think its simplistic to say preserve the
environment vs farm on it. Approaches such as
organic farming do some of both. Even better are
sustainable approaches to farming with perennial
crops and can support much greater wildlife,
think fruit or nut orchards and other
agriforestry approaches which combine crops with
livestock.

We can have a land management policy that is good
for people and wildlfe and dealing with climate
chaos but it means encouraging people to get
close to the land.
If we decide to dictate what the landowners must
do then we will alter what the public will see. I
would like to suggest that the land use be
dictated by supply and demand.
In my opinion it will be biofuels that will have
the greatest impact on the balance between food
production and environment.
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• "The UKs Foresight Programme aims to bridge
• the gap in policy making between the short and
• the long term."
• Professor John Beddington, Government Chief
  Scientific Adviser
• The UK Government's Foresight Programme and its
  Horizon Scanning
• Centre use the best evidence from science and
  other areas to provide
• visions of the future.

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What did we achieve?

• Good press coverage
• Raised profile of Relu and greater awareness of
  the programme
• Information to feed into policy and further work

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What were the factors for success?

• The Great Land Use Debate was part of a bigger
  strategy on land use
• We planned carefully how people would access the
  blog, particularly via other electronic media
• We lined up stimulating writers to spark off the
  debate
• We refreshed the debate throughout the week with
  new questions