Call to pay farmers for managing uplands

FARMERS should be paid by the government for protecting the nation's hills, according to a team of experts at Aberdeen and Leeds universities.

They claim that mounting pressures, such as climate change and a growing population, are likely to have a huge impact on upland areas in future years, and the way they are managed needs to change to adapt to these pressures.

The academics, members of the Sustainable Uplands Project, claim that farmers should be rewarded financially for producing food and for taking part in projects such as carbon storage and the production of clean water.

Professor Joseph Holden, of Leeds University and co-leader of the Sustainable Uplands Project, said: "The uplands are not just barren patches of wilderness – they are highly-managed landscapes that many people in the UK depend on for their livelihoods.

"Most current payments to upland farmers are based on the area of land they hold rather than what they're using it for. But society needs people managing the hills to protect water supplies and unique wildlife, and to keep carbon locked in peat soils."

Dr Mark Reed, of Aberdeen University, said: "This isn't about new funding – it's about using existing money more effectively. We're currently talking to the policy community and landowners and managers about how we could use current funding to produce a much wider range of goods and services from the countryside.

"This may involve paying bonuses to people who join together to do things at a landscape scale, for example to reduce flood risk or create new wildlife habitats."