Farming in the Uplands - ARCHIVE: Defra

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00.01am GMT Wednesday 16 February 2011
Farming in the Uplands 31
assets attract visitors to the uplands. And as the Minister told us “...the very beauty of the
uplands, which attracts the tourism [...] which is of greater economic value to the uplands
than farming is, is there because of farmers”. 171 However, hill farmers get relatively little
benefit from tourism. 172 According to the Uplands Farm Practice Survey “... a quarter of
upland farms had an on-farm diversified enterprise such as a farm shop or Bed &
Breakfast. The survey highlighted that over half of upland farmers with no current
diversified activity felt there was either no scope or they had no plans to diversify”. 173
79. Tourism makes a substantial contribution to the uplands economy. Each year the 40
million people who visit the seven upland National Parks spend an estimated £1.78
billion. 174 The National Farmers’ Union argued for a mechanism to generate more income
from public access to uplands landscapes, noting that less than 30% of visits to the natural
environment involve any expenditure. 175 The English National Park Authorities
Association told us that several National Parks have voluntary visitor contribution
schemes. Dr Stone, Chief Executive, Exmoor National Park, told us that probably the
largest such scheme was in the Lake District where it generated around £100,000 a year; but
he did not consider such schemes would replace other sources of funding. 176 Under the
Lake District scheme, called Nurture Lakeland, tourism related businesses, such as guest
houses and hotels, pledge to raise money for conservation projects in the Lake District.
Money can be raised a number of ways, including a small additional sum being added to
bills, which the customer may ‘opt out’ of paying. 177
80. The Minister appeared to think that tourism could bring more money into the uplands
but he said that it was an issue for the Department of Culture Media and Sport and the
tourism industry. 178 It is disappointing that the Minister was not more enthusiastic about
the opportunities tourism may provide for upland farmers. It could be argued that visitors
to upland areas are predominantly drawn to those areas by the natural landscape—a
landscape that farmers are largely responsible for maintaining. From the evidence that we
have seen it is unlikely that voluntary contribution schemes would generate significant
funds, and it is not clear how farmers would benefit directly from any income from such
schemes. Tourism has the potential to be an additional source of income for upland
farmers. Defra’s upland strategy should set out how the Government will support
farmers seeking to diversify into business activities that serve those tourists.
81. Some National Parks contract farmers to carry out specific activities to manage the
land, such as maintaining paths and walls. We recommend Defra seek further ways that
farmers can generate additional income, for example by being contracted to assist in
clearing snow during bad weather.
171 Q 234
172 Ev 71
173 Ev 75
174 High ground, high potential, p 59; Ev 71
175 Ev 63
176 Q 162
177 Ev 90
178 Q 235