By Stephen Le Quesne
LAST week the Island hosted its second Regen Gathering at Le Tâcheron Farm. The event had the tagline of “Food, Farming and Enterprise” and focused on health, farming and the environment. With panel discussions and workshops, the free two-day event focused on innovative approaches to farming and how we produce food with nature and the soil in mind.
I was unable to attend, but looking at the list of talks and workshops that were available, the areas of regenerative agriculture, soil health and agroforestry interest me greatly and show the science and options available to us as we hopefully move away from focusing on just one product, the potato.
Wildlife, nature, rewilding and restoring nature’s ecosystems and processes are linked in many ways to regenerative agriculture, as both involve the improvement of soil health and restoring the ecosystems and health of the flora and fauna that call the soil their home. Knepp Castle Estate, the UK’s rewilding pioneers, have also recently started to produce their own meat, which is healthier, denser and richer, as the livestock are not fattened fast with protein and grain.
It is a very positive step that we now have an annual event that focuses on regenerative agriculture, and long may it continue, but we are still lacking any direction or eagerness to even discuss the processes of rewilding and how it may influence our countryside and the positives it can bring to the Island. I am determined to beat the drum for rewilding, to see how it can be adapted here.
Why though, am I focusing on these two areas? Firstly, it is just the right thing to do, to leave the planet in a healthier place wherever we can and because climate breakdown is going to put unquantifiable and unforeseen pressures on our food systems and food security, and we need to be as resilient as possible to deal with this. The global food system is more vulnerable and fragile than we realise and as an island this fragility is amplified.
Regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, farm diversification and resilience, smallholdings, embracing nature and focusing on soil health and many other topics lead us to the practical elements or how we can implement them. This may include the creation of smallholdings and permacultures, more allotments (especially near or in St Helier) and reintroducing lost species, linking derelict fields to become spaces for nature and as whole evolving our agricultural fields and farms.
However, all of these have one common stumbling block, and that is how we designate and manage our agricultural land and how outdated the laws are.
(Before I continue, apologies if I miss anything below: this is a relatively new subject to me and I am learning all the time.)
Agricultural land is defined as land that is being used or is capable of being used for any purpose of agriculture or horticulture, so in theory a wet meadow or grass meadow can be defined as “agricultural”, if in the past it has been used for growing produce or has the potential to do so.
To diversify and explore alternative forms of agriculture and nature conservation, then, it is more than likely that a change of land use might be needed and required. This is incredibly difficult, though with planning permission more than likely required and, if approved, with possible restrictions. It is a bit of a minefield, not easy to understand and wholly unsuitable for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
For example, if I were the owner of a grass meadow with a stream that was defined as agricultural land and I wanted to reintroduce water voles or another species, or wanted to create a miniature nature reserve, then there is no official route for this. Nor is there one if I wanted to create a permaculture. I would need to apply for planning permission and hope for the best. What we need is a list of defined land use terms that agricultural fields can be transformed into with the appropriate legislation and legal infrastructure to enable this.
You may disagree with what I am saying or trying to say, but to keep land control and usage regulations as they are can be seen as restrictive and detrimental to farming, food production and nature conservation. (What I have also not mentioned is the amount of power the Minister for the Environment has within these regulations.)
I would love to see “Nature Conservation”, “Agroforestry” and “Rewilding” amongst other land usage definitions that allow individuals, farming families and organisations to adapt and evolve our countryside so that we are more resilient to the challenges ahead while producing healthier, more diverse produce which is grown alongside the natural world.
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Stephen Le Quesne is a naturalist, conservationist, forest school leader and nature connection advocate.
