Dr Hilary Cottam was appointed by the previous DEFRA Secretary of State, Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP, to review the challenges facing upland farmers and farming communities. Her expertise lies not in agriculture or rural issues specifically, but in her knowledge of social systems and communities. Dr Cottom has written a report in which she identifies that the upland areas of England are at a “tipping point” because policy towards the uplands has not properly appreciated the interdependence of the environmental, economic and social systems in operation in upland areas. She was critical of broad scale environmental schemes that have encouraged large estates to end tenancies, liking it to the closure of mining and the de-industrialisation of large parts of Britain, without adequate concern for transition in the 1980s and for which Britain continues to pay the social and economic costs today. Dr Cottom’s report calls for long term system transformation that puts people, places and nature on an equal footing. Alongside the Fursdon Review into the management of the protected sites on Dartmoor, the Cottam Report stands as an indictment of previous Government policy towards the uplands and an opportunity for doing better in the future, should DEFRA and its statutory agencies show a willingness to change.

TFA National Vice Chair and uplands spokesperson, Helen Radmore, said: “Dr Hilary Cottam has shown astute insight into the complexities of the uplands and the need for up-to-date scientific evidence recognising all aspects of upland farming, community and nature. She has rightly identified that previous policy has been detrimental to the sustainability of the uplands, expressing concerns about ‘industrial environmentalism’ and ‘financialised nature’.  We are grateful too that she has identified specific issues that the Government needs to consider for the tenanted sector of agriculture in the uplands and we look forward to working with her as she seeks to move DEFRA and Natural England into a much more effective policy space for the uplands“. Hilary Cottam’s report can be read in full by clicking here.