August, the dog days, so called because at this time Sirius the dog star rises with the sun. Days of heat and lassitude, and once thought also to be a time of disaster and strife. For the natural world that may be so now, with recent announcements from the Government which will profoundly affect our wildlife.

First, what could turn into either good or bad news: the support that farmers and landowners are getting from the European Union will be continued when we leave. Currently that support includes payments for looking after wildlife and other environmentally-friendly practices. The trouble is that the obligations that come with those payments have long been prime targets for the anti-red-tape brigade. Before the referendum one minister described them as ‘spirit-crushing’.

There is an opportunity now to reform and improve the ways we reward those who manage land for helping wildlife; equally there is a huge risk that the imperfections of the present system will be used as an excuse to dismantle the whole process. This could result in the gains of recent years, such as wildlife-friendly treatment of marginal agricultural land, being lost.

The second, and linked issue, goes to the heart of the legal protection of wildlife and its habitats. The agency charged with overseeing this is Natural England. By the time we leave Europe it will be in the throes of reducing its staff by a fifth, and its budget by more than a quarter. It has announced that it will exercising a lighter touch in relation to pursuing those who break the laws protecting wildlife, that it will ‘make more proportionate use of its regulatory powers’.

With momentous changes in train it would surely be sensible to expand and strengthen Natural England, rather than weaken it. Apart from its role as a regulator it is also the Government’s statutory nature conservation advisor. It might be thought that this aspect of its duties will be needed more rather than less over the next few years.

And don’t think this is just about rural issues. Natural England will now not, perhaps, be coming to protect a valuable wildlife site threatened with development near you. With the planned, and land hungry, house building programme for Birmingham and the Black Country the dog days could well stretch into the dog years.

Twitter: @PeteWestbrom