High Street store Marks & Spencer has launched a new industry initiative to help farmers become more environmentally sustainable with the help of experts at SCRI.

M&S is working with a number of independent experts including SCRI, LEAF, WWF, RSPB, SAC, Rothamsted Research, Game and Wildlife Conservancy Trust and a number of individual farmers and advisers to develop a set of simple measurements to help farmers make their businesses environmentally sustainable whilst improving their business performance.

The new set of practical measurements will allow farmers to assess how they currently work, make improvements and monitor progress such as measuring water and fertiliser usage. They include 19 simple measurements that record baseline performance across four key areas - water, waste, greenhouse gases and biodiversity.

Paul Willgoss, Director of Food Technology at M&S says, “In 2007, we made a commitment to reduce our environmental footprint by working with independent experts including our own farmers. As part of this we wanted to take the lead in helping our farmers to manage the environmental impact of their farming practices whilst allowing their businesses to thrive.

Paul continued, “We are really proud to be working with some of the country’s leading environmental experts and believe these indicators will help farmers both improve their farms environmental and financial performance.”

Alastair Leake, Head of Projects at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust says, “The links between farming, wildlife and the environment are well documented. What we now need to do is find practical ways to help farmers recognise what resources they currently have on their farms and offer them guidance on how to protect them. These indicators are a good start and will go some way to quantify the environmental improvements that result from practising integrated farming.”

Endorsing the indicators, Richard Perkins, Agricultural Policy Officer at WWF added, “The WWF are really pleased to be working in partnership with M&S on a set of indicators that will ultimately lead to more sustainable food production. All the science tells us that we have to act now to deal with the effects of climate change, before it is too late. The development of these indicators, which will form part of M&S’s Plan A, is a step in the right direction.”

Read more about M&S’s Plan A.