Cam Valley Forum calls for support for river flows and habitats under Environmental Land Management schemes
The Forum’s response to the recent Defra policy discussion paper on future support for Environmental Land Management (ELM) calls for:
- DEFRA to work with local people and local river groups to inform and help achieve national objectives
- A ‘managed aquifer recharge’ option to be added to the menu of land management options for farmers.
- Much greater support for ELM investments on riverine margins – ‘Riverscape Opportunity Areas’ as we’ve termed them. In intensively managed landscapes such as the Cam Valley, river corridors offer perhaps the best opportunity to reinstate extensive contiguous areas of improved habitat, while also protecting and enhancing Chalk streams.
- ELM agreements to support ‘nature-based’ options to manage flood risk.
- Plenty of expert advice, local tailoring of objectives and actions, valuing environmental services effectively.
The full CVF response can be downloaded here.