Environmentalist nominated as Natural England Chair

This week parliament, between seemingly endless debates about Brexit, considered the nomination of environmental campaigner Tony Juniper as Chairman of Natural England.

It is fair to say that Mr Juniper, who has previously worked for Friends of the Earth and is now president of the Wildlife Trusts, is not a traditional appointment for a Conservative government and he has been outspoken in his criticism of some Conservative policies. For instance in 2013 he claimed that the badger cull was "payback for laws which ended fox hunting with dogs", and as the Telegraph reported this week he has also written that: "One lever society has for influencing how the land is managed is the vast amount of money paid from our taxes to upland shooting estates…the sport of a privileged few will continue to be subsidised…through our taxes".

Apart from the worrying prejudice explicit in this statement Mr Juniper is also simply wrong to claim that there is any subsidy for shooting. Defra has quite correctly responded to similar claims by stating very clearly that "neither subsidies nor agri-environment payments are paid to farmers to support shooting activities".

Mr Juniper was questioned on these issues and many others by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and Environmental Audit Committee in a pre-appointment hearing on Tuesday. What was clear from that session was that putting aside Mr Juniper's past disagreements with government policy on some controversial issues his 35 years of experience of environmental issues give him a very solid platform from which to lead an organisation whose role is to be "the government's adviser for the natural environment in England, helping to protect England's nature and landscapes for people to enjoy and for the services they provide".

Indeed the Efra Committee has endorsed his nomination with its Chairman Neil Parish, saying: "The Committee appreciated his honesty and willingness to be open about the process and what makes him suitable for such a position. The Chair of Natural England will play a pivotal role in the future of environmental policy and we watch with interest as to how the candidate will meet this challenge."

Like the Efra Committee the Alliance will watch with interest. The role Mr Juniper is taking on is undoubtedly a huge challenge. If he can focus on delivering Natural England's stated aims, and avoid being diverted by external pressures, he has every chance of delivering on them.