Thérèse Coffey has told farmers she will not support the reintroduction of wolves and lynx, as she addressed this year’s NFU farming conference.
Wildlife reintroductions have been enormously popular in recent years, with some particularly successful examples, such as pine martens and sea eagles. But some farmers have raised concerns about how the reintroductions could affect their work.
The environment secretary told the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference in Birmingham that “farmers do not need to worry” about species reintroductions and said she would rather focus on species and habitats already in the UK.
Coffey said: “I don’t want farmers to constantly have to worry about these issues. We’ve got plenty to do with the habitats that need improving and expanding.”
She added that when there were proposals to release sea eagles in her constituency, “farmers were really worried about what this would do to their livestock, particularly given the extent of free range farming in that part of the country”. There has been little to no evidence of sea eagles taking livestock, but they do feed on carrion.
Coffey summed up: “I won’t be supporting reintroductions of species like lynx and wolves.”
Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, which has been involved in beaver release trials and is working on a policy around releasing wildcats, strongly criticised her stance.
He said: “This is deeply disappointing, it suggests that sadly the secretary of state is massively out of touch with British public opinion on these issues and in fact the views of many farmers I talk to.”
Ecosystems need lost species such as beavers to create habitats, and some such as pine martens to act as predators in the food chain, he added. “The fact is, ecosystems are not functioning as they should but where we have seen the reintroductions of beavers, of pine martens, you start to see these ecosystems are functioning properly.”
On Coffey’s remarks about sea eagles being a threat to farmers, he said: “I think there are many misplaced concerns, I completely understand that whenever we look at species reintroductions there needs to be support among landowners and farmers. But this snap kneejerk reaction is ecologically illiterate.”
The species reintroduction taskforce met for the first time this month, and included members from government bodies such as Natural England, as well as farmers and land managers. One of the topics under discussion was how to approach rewilding without causing conflict with local people.
The government is also expected to allow beavers to be released out of their enclosures across the country, in coming months. In 2021, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, promised to “build back beaver” in his speech to the Conservative conference. However, there was some confusion, after Coffey’s statement, over whether the plans would proceed.
A Labour government may support species reintroductions. The shadow environment minister, Alex Sobel, said: “It is a job for the species introduction taskforce to consider and advise ministers accordingly. There are areas where its inappropriate and equally areas where it will for example help prevent and alleviate flooding.”
During a question and answer session after her speech, Coffey had a robust exchange with the NFU president, Minette Batters, who said the egg sector was facing “market failure” with a loss of a million hens, as well as empty supermarket shelves. Coffey denied that there was a market failure.
