Getting the most out of every acre? Royal Society says UK government “overpromising” on land for food pledge

02 Feb 2023 --- A Royal Society report has concluded that government ambitions to boost food production, protect nature and fight climate change risk “overpromising” finite UK land because of a lack of robust data and disjointed policy-making.

The report: Multifunctional Landscapes: Informing a long-term vision for managing the UK’s land, has been published by the UK national academy of sciences, and explores how science and innovation can help get the most out of the land.

At the heart of this is a drive toward more sophisticated, data-driven measurement of the multiple benefits land provides; from marketable outputs, like food and timber; to essential public goods, like recreation, carbon capture and biodiversity, that typically don’t offer a financial return.

To ensure land is used productively, efficiently and sustainably, the report recommends developing a shared and accessible evidence base, incorporating the full range of information necessary to support robust land use decisions.

The report outlines that establishing evidence-led, cross-departmental land use frameworks to join up policy and help manage trade-offs between multiple different land uses is also necessary – and supports policy coherence across the four UK nations. 

Meanwhile, reforming financial support to explicitly incentivize the delivery of non-marketable benefits, such as biodiversity, and ensure they are locally adjustable to reflect the varying suitability of land to different functions, it reads. 

The report’s recommendations for an evidence-led, multifunctional approach could be a model that is replicated worldwide.Further, investing in skills, research translation and technology to maximize the combination of benefits land is delivering, drive up productivity, and enable land managers to innovate and capitalize on new income streams is also crucial to this development. 

Developing agricultural policies 
The report adds that this is an opportunity for the UK to demonstrate global leadership as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continue to develop their new agricultural and land policies outside the EU. 

The report’s recommendations for an evidence-led, multifunctional approach to the land-dependent issues defining the 21st century – such as food security, climate change and biodiversity loss – could be a model that is replicated worldwide.

This should build on the progress of the Office of National Statistics and Geospatial Commission, which lays the groundwork for a continually evolving and improving land information resource for all four nations in the UK.

“The UK does not have enough land for any of it to be non-productive,” says the report’s steering group Chair, Sir Charles Godfray FRS, director of the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.

“Productivity is about much more than food, timber and products that can be sold on markets. It should encompass all valuable land-based outputs, such as biodiversity and carbon sequestration, that are of critical importance for the UK and for which market values don’t normally exist,” he explains. 

“This report sets out how modern data and analytics can refine our accounting of the full complement of services land provides and how research and technology help maximize the productivity of every acre.”

The report also draws on expertise from across UK academia, politics, land management organizations and the Society’s Fellowship, as well as examples of evidence-led, multifunctional land use changes that are already underway.

People and landscapes
As part of the report’s development, the steering group commissioned a public engagement exercise speaking to people across the UK about the future of land use. 

It identified that people from different perspectives share a desire to understand the challenges and be more involved in decisions about the future of our landscapes.

“Multifunctionality is as important for people as for the environment and economy,” adds Dame Fiona Reynolds, former director general of the National Trust and a member of the report’s steering group.

“This report advocates for a system that fulfills these public needs for food, nature, carbon and access in a joined up and transparent way.” 

Edited by Elizabeth Green