Nature-friendly farming must be at the heart of the UK Government's policy, Compassion's Global Director of Campaigns and Policy Advocacy, Debbie Tripley, told the Wildlife and Countryside Link’s Wild Summit yesterday (9 September).

Speaking on the main stage, she highlighted the damaging impacts that factory farming has on the environment, and the need to transition to a more regenerative, compassionate food and farming system.

The summit brought together campaigners, policymakers, scientists, community leaders, and creatives from across the UK to champion bold action for wildlife and push nature higher up the political agenda.

A driving force for wildlife restoration

Debbie joined a panel of experts at the event in a fascinating session titled ‘Nature-friendly farming: Can farmers feed the nation and be the driving force of wildlife restoration?’

Nature recovery depends on changing the way we farm. Agricultural intensification has driven wildlife loss, but nature-friendly farming offers new hope. The session explored how more farmers can be supported to adopt these approaches across the countryside, backed by the support and policies they need to make this transition.

Intensive poultry sector expansion puts nature at risk

Speaking to a packed auditorium, Debbie warned of the damage caused by intensive poultry farming and the serious risks that could arise if the UK Government’s proposed Poultry Sector Growth Plan leads to further expansion of this sector.

If the strategy promotes further expansion of industrial chicken production, an already highly damaging industry, it risks increasing pressure on public health, the environment and wildlife, whilst locking millions more sentient animals into low welfare farming systems.

Debbie made clear this would be a backward step at the very moment the UK needs to move towards farming that protects animals, people, and the planet.

Global Director of Campaigns and Advocacy, Debbie Tripley said:

Industrial livestock agriculture has a massive footprint and causing enormous harm to climate change and biodiversity.

And it's accelerating, not only globally, but it’s accelerating in the UK through the Poultry Growth Plan, which the government believe is the right pathway for food security.

However, if we go down that line, we can expect much more of our precious nature to be extinguished.

After the summer the UK has had, is this really the only answer the government can come up with for food security?

The Government must act now for nature

As part of a coalition with Wildlife and Countryside Link, we are calling on the UK Government to deliver on its legal commitments to halt the decline of wildlife and protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.

Today, the coalition has written to the Prime Minister urging the UK Government to make restoring, expanding, and strengthening protected areas a defining priority and a core part of its vision for a better, fairer, and safer future.

Taking Nature-Friendly Farming to the Main Stage at Wild Summit