PROTECTING food production will now be one of the considerations for those signing up to the next round of the Landscape Recovery scheme, Defra has revealed.
Farmers and landowners are now been invited to bid for a share of 15 million initial development funding which Defra said would deliver environmental benefits on a massive scale while supporting farmers to deliver their world-renowned produce.
The announcement marks the first time that the protection of food production has been included as one of the schemes criteria. The Government has said that the new rule will: be used to ensure prospective projects take food production into consideration and mitigate any negative impacts on this where possible.
Dr Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England, said: Agriculture has a huge role to play in nature recovery, ensuring that a thriving natural world is at the heart of sustainable food production. Landscape Recovery encourages farmers and land managers 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 and land managers will join forces, making significant progress towards the statutory Nature targets and providing the food and public goods that our society depends upon.
However, the latest announcement has not be universally welcomed with TFA chief executive George Dunn expressing disappointment that tenants are being side lined by the schemes.
The TFA's principal concerns with Landscape Recovery are twofold, Mr Dunn said. The first relates to the incentive for landlords to recover possession of land from tenant farmers in order to enter schemes themselves and reap the benefits of the public payments. The second is the limitations of tenancy agreements which prevent tenants from participating.
Requiring schemes to consider and minimise their impact on food production is a step forward but, in accordance with the recommendation of the Rock Review report from the Tenancy Working Group, schemes must also demonstrate that they do not adversely affect tenant farmers. To achieve that, land owners must not be allowed to bring land into Landscape Recovery if it has been previously rented out in the 12 months before the start of the scheme. Instead, there should be encouragement for tenant led joint applications.
According to Defra, the second round will support up to 25 projects, which will be administered by lead delivery partners Natural England and the Environment Agency and will be selected based on their environmental and social impact, value for money and suitability for the scheme.
Funding applies to schemes of at least 500 hectares, which could include landscape scale projects creating and enhancing woodland including temperate rainforest, peatland, nature reserves and protected sites such as ancient woodlands, wetlands and salt marshes.
Secretary of State for Food and Farming Therese Coffey said the new projects will make a real difference in reaching net zero and supporting valuable habitats, while continuing to support sustainable food production.
