rearing

"We don't want to make missteps that could be very costly with our infrastructure when we have climate change rearing its ugly head," he said.

During his own working life, Freeman oversaw the rearing of 20,000 pups and helped found and develop a puppy walking programme, which continues today.

Some desert conservationists are critical of the efforts, saying the captive rearing program is essentially a smokescreen that distracts from the pressing need to conserve critical habitat.

Around 85% of the UK's farmland is devoted to rearing animals for food, yet it generates only 32% of the nation's calories.

For years, tax relief has enabled small family farms – including land used for crops or rearing animals, as well as farm buildings, cottages and houses - to be handed down through the generations.