UK call for European CAP farming subsidies reform

The EU pays farmers money to maintain their land

Conservationists and landowners have united, in a rare show of solidarity, to campaign for changes in the way UK farming subsidies are distributed.

The RSPB wildlife charity and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) want the focus to shift from food to biodiversity and sustainability.

They say any changes made to the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) need an "environmental focus".

Representatives from both are heading to Brussels to lobby for the changes.

CLA policy director Allan Buckwell told BBC News: "With a huge debate in Europe and a potential CAP reform in 2013, we need to work together."

The CLA, has 36,000 members, while the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has more than one million.

Groundbreaking move

RSPB head of agriculture policy Gareth Morgan told BBC News the European budget for the CAP was already facing huge pressures and without the campaign farmers could miss out on vital funds.

The BBC's rural affairs correspondent, Jeremy Cooke, says the joint statement is a groundbreaking move.

For some years there has been a slow movement away from paying farmers for what they produce, and towards rewarding them for their stewardship of the countryside, he adds.

The RSPB and CLA say that process needs to be "accelerated and widened" to deliver a more viable and sustainable farm system that provides both food and environmental benefits including cleaner water, reduced global warming and greater biodiversity.

They view is shared by other European organisations, with a joint policy paper due to be launched late Wednesday by the European Landowners' Organisation and BirdLife International.