The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
QMS counters climate group’s land use report
Environment: Call to cut beef and lamb pastures
The UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has called for a 26-36% reduction in grassland and rough grazing by 2050, replaced by up to 1.5 million hectares of new woodland and 1.2m ha of bioenergy crops.
These proposals, contained in a 100-page report on the country’s climate change challenge, while welcomed by forestry leaders, drew a sharp response from Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) in defence of Scotch beef and lamb’s “exceptionally strong” sustainability story.
T h e C C C r e p o r t , presented to government as an advisory document, advocates the adoption of a new land-use policy to promote radically different uses of land, arguing that climate change is threatening our ability to provide critical services, such as clean water, healthy soils and timber.
In proposing that landowners should be helped to change and rewarded when they do, the committee maintained that the current approach to land use is not sustainable.
The suggestion that a 20-50% reduction in beef and lamb pastures would be beneficial, releasing 3-7m ha of grassland for trees and bioenergy, was immediately countered by QMS chair Kate Rowell.
“Over 80% of Scottish farmland is comprised of grass and rough grazing which is not suitable for growing fruit, cereals and vegetables but ideal for producing top quality beef and lamb, using one of our greatest natural assets – grass,” she said.
Nigel Scollan, Director of the Institute for Global Food Security and member of the Meat Advisory Panel, agreed, adding that suggesting people should cut their red meat consumption was not the answer to the UK’s high level carbon emissions.
Stuart Goodall, chief executive of Forestry and Wood, representing 1,500 wood-using bodies in the UK, said: “I would encourage the CCC to be even bolder in its recommendations until the government recognises its responsibilities and takes them seriously.”