Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme (2021-2024)

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We would like to encourage farmers or landowners from across the AONB, who may have a project in mind that delivers for Nature, Climate People & Place to email [email protected] to arrange an informal chat.

 

Please take a look at Defra’s Guidance Document for more information - Click Here

 

What is the Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme?

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The Country’s Protected Landscapes are special and unique and need to be managed, enhances and protected while also supporting the farmers and communities who work withing them and the wider local economy.

 

The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme provides additional investment in these places to allow farmers to work in partnership with Protected Landscapes to deliver bigger and better outcomes for the environment for people and place. 

 

Protected Landscapes can make an important contribution to:

 

  • Climate – delivering net zero with nature and nature-based solutions to help communities adapt to the unavoidable effects of climate change;

  • Nature – playing a leading role in the delivery of the Nature Recovery Network and achieving the PMs commitment to protect 30% of land by 2030;

  • People – providing a natural health service that will improve the nation’s public health and wellbeing through increased access to nature across all parts of society, as part of our green recovery;

  • Place – creating centres of excellence and green innovation that are flourishing places to live and work, each with a strong identity and cultural heritage, and high recognition as attractive visitor destinations.

 

As part of the Agricultural Transition Plan, the government has committed to help farmers and land managers deliver against these four areas, in a holistic way - in order to meet the requirements of individual Protected Landscapes, helping strengthen their special importance and meet their statutory requirements.

 

The programme is delivered by farmers, working in partnership with Protected Landscapes – Protected Landscapes and farmers living and working in these areas know the opportunities and challenges facing their landscapes and communities the best. This is an opportunity for Protected Landscapes, farmers and others within these areas to work better together, leading work at an individual landscape level, building on existing relationships.

 

What are the Themes, Outcomes and Indicative projects?

 

This programme has been designed with local flexibility at the forefront. As the decision makers, Protected Landscapes are able to make funding decisions that take into account the wider strategic priorities of their landscapes.

 

FiPL seeks to achieve several outcomes across the four programme themes: climate, nature, people and place. Applicants will be asked in their applications to demonstrate how their project meets these outcomes.

 

Outcomes for the FiPL programme:

 

Climate

  • More carbon is stored and/or sequestered

  • Flood risk has been reduced

  • Better understanding among farmers, land managers and the public as to what different habitats and land uses can deliver for carbon storage and reduced carbon emissions

  • The landscape is more resilient to climate change

 

Nature

  • There is a greater area of wildlife rich habitat

  • There is greater connectivity between habitats

  • Existing habitat is better managed for biodiversity

  • There is an increase in biodiversity

 

People

  • There are more opportunities for people to explore, enjoy and understand the landscape

  • There are increased opportunities for more diverse audiences to explore, enjoy and understand the landscape

  • There is greater public engagement in land management, for example through volunteering

Place

  • The quality and character of the landscape is reinforced or enhanced

  • Historic structures and features are conserved, enhanced or interpreted more effectively

  • There is an increase in the resilience of nature friendly sustainable farm businesses, which in turn contributes to a more thriving local economy

 

Where possible, projects should be funded which deliver on more than one of the four themes to maximise the programme’s impact. The intention is that this programme has the flexibility to take an integrated approach: delivering multi benefits; able to fund capital and revenue; practical projects, skills development, knowledge transfer and training; with farmers and the environment at the heart of it.

 

For all correspondence and for more information please email, [email protected].