This document sets out the radical proposals of the Wildlife and Countryside Link coalition of leading environmental groups (including CPRE) to transform the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The report proposes replacing the CAP with a single European Sustainable Land Management Policy - existing farm support payments would be phased out and replaced with support for positive land management to help underpin profitable farm businesses and prosperous rural communities.

Farming is of national strategic importance, in terms of primary production of food, energy and commodities, through its crucial role in managing water and soil resources and in shaping and managing landscape and habitat. The rich character of the English countryside is largely derived from farming and the future of agriculture will play a major role in determining its future. The farming community retains professional knowledge and a skill base which will be vital to the future of productive land management in the future.

CPRE, as part of the Joint Links coalition of UK conservation bodies, believes that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be radically reformed to bring about a revolution in the protection and enrichment of Europe’s landscapes and habitats. This report outlines the measures that need to be developed to help make farming more sustainable, humane and wildlife-friendly. By 2020 the CAP must be doing much more to restore and enhance our natural and historic landscapes, and making a bigger contribution towards meeting targets and commitments on biodiversity, climate change and natural resource protection.

A report for CPRE by Caroline Cranbrook on local food networks in East Suffolk, which demonstrates the importance of local shops and services to rural communities. It reveals the complex web of interconnection between local producers and farmers and local shops.

This Birstall report is part of a wider project, Mapping Local Food Webs, which builds on the east Suffolk research. It aims to reveal the extent, nature and benefits of local food webs in other parts of England, to increase public and policy makers’ awareness of local food networks and identify ways to improve support for the production, supply and sale of local produce around England.

This Hastings report is part of a wider project, Mapping Local Food Webs, which builds on the Suffolk research. It aims to reveal the extent, nature and benefits of local food webs around England, to increase public and policy makers’ awareness of local food networks and identify ways better to support the production, supply and sale of local produce around England.

This Kenilworth report is part of a wider project, Mapping Local Food Webs, which builds on the east Suffolk research. It aims to reveal the extent, nature and benefits of local food webs in other parts of England, to increase public and policy makers’ awareness of local food networks and identify ways to improve support for the production, supply and sale of local produce around England.

This Knutsford report is part of a wider project, Mapping Local Food Webs, which builds on the east Suffolk research. It aims to reveal the extent, nature and benefits of local food webs in other parts of England, to increase public and policy makers’ awareness of local food networks and identify ways to improve support for the production, supply and sale of local produce around England.

This Sheffield report is part of a wider project, Mapping Local Food Webs, which builds on the Suffolk research. It aims to reveal the extent, nature and benefits of local food webs around England, to increase public and policy makers’ awareness of local food networks and identify ways better to support the production, supply and sale of local produce around England.