Defra's new Landscape Recovery fund to support food production for first time
Farmers will receive funding of £15m for projects to create new habitats for wildlife, help protected sites and boost sustainable food production, Defra has confirmed.
Building on the first round of the scheme launched last year, farmers and land managers will be able to bid for a share of £15m initial development funding.
The second round of the the Landscape Recovery scheme will support up to 25 projects, which will be administered by Natural England and the Environment Agency.
The projects will be selected based on their environmental and social impact, value for money and suitability for the scheme.
In addition, for the first time, a food production criterion has been introduced which will be used to ensure projects take food production into consideration.
The scheme will focus on projects of at least 500 hectares.
Landscape Recovery is one of the UK's three post-Brexit Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMS) which replace the EU's CAP.
They will provide funding and support for farmers in England through the biggest change the industry has seen in a generation.
Defra Secretary Thérèse Coffey said: “The scheme is already supporting 22 inspiring landscape-scale projects across England with development funding.
"The second round will help more farmers take collective action through involvement in bespoke projects that will make a difference in reaching net zero and supporting valuable habitats, while continuing to support sustainable food production.”
Projects selected for the first round last year on the Somerset and Dorset border, where the River Axe Landscape Recovery project is bringing together 23 farmers to restore a 23.6km stretch of the upper river.
The project will support regenerative farming and extensive grazing on the land neighbouring the river corridor to reduce diffuse pollution, phosphates and sediments entering the river, enabling cleaner water to flow.
Elsewhere, the Three Dales project in Yorkshire includes a consortium of ten farmers led by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, who are aiming to restore a large area of the western Yorkshire Dales uplands.
Dr Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England, said: "Landscape Recovery encourages farmers to transform nature at a landscape scale and Natural England will use its advice and relationships to support them every step of the way.
“I hope that through this scheme more farmers will join forces, making significant progress towards the statutory nature targets and providing the food and public goods that our society depends upon.”
Landscape Recovery sits alongside Countryside Stewardship and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) as the government’s new ELM schemes.
Earlier this year, the government announced further detail on how the schemes would be improved and accelerated.
