After two years of development work, two pioneering projects have now secured their financing and start with long -term delivery on site.
Together they represent over £ 55 million. In addition to private investments, the financing of landscape recovery will sit in an innovative “Blended Finance” model and combine public and private money in the next 20 to 30 years.
In this post I will share an overview.
background
The recovery of the landscape is one of our environmental management programs. It supports large -scale, long -term projects that restore nature, improve biological diversity and offer environmental advantages for entire landscapes in England.
Projects bring together farmers, landowners, environmental organizations and local communities to create plans that are tailored to their region.
The combination of state financial funds with private investments can be more ambitious, spread the risk and open up new income streams for farmers and landowners through units and CO2 loans for the biological diversity of net profit (Bisivesity net not).
This approach is still relatively new, but shows how the recovery of nature can become an economic and sustainable use of land.
The projects focus on ambitious environmental goals and at the same time aim to strengthen rural communities and support local measures in order to create space for nature in addition to food production.
A special result of these projects are the advantages that you will bring on our waterways.
The projects in round 1 expect that more than 600 kilometers of rivers will be restored together with more than 250 species. This includes fish, amphibians such as toad and Newts, water birds and a controlled reintroduction of beavers.
These projects aim to restore waters, rivers and floodplains in a more natural state. You will also try to reduce nutrient pollution, to benefit water types and to improve the weakening of the floods and the resistance to climate change.
From development to implementation
In 2022, 22 projects were selected for the first round of landscape recreation. Each received the financing from the government to start the project development phase (PDP). This support helped you to design detailed and long -term plans to restore nature in large areas of land.
In this phase, projects worked closely with farmers, landowners, municipalities and environmental groups. Together they developed suggestions to support wild animals, improve water quality, to build up flood resilience and to maintain local economy as well as food production.
At the end of this phase, projects can be offered financial means to move into the next phase, which is referred to as a project implementation phase. To get into this phase, each project has to go through a strict insurance process. Experts check the suggestions to ensure that public financing is well spent and that projects contribute to environmental goals.
The first two projects have now completed the necessary checks, signed their agreements and are ready to start working on site.
Boothby Wildland: The first to offer a implementation agreement
Boothby Wildland is the first project to enter into the project implementation phase.
Boothby Wildland is a large -scale natural restoration project near Grantham in Lincolnshire. It extends over about 620 hectares of the former farmland of 3 class 3.
The country was bought in 2021 by Nattergal, a natural restoration company. The project aims to change the place through natural colonization and create a rich and dynamic mix of habitats, including wetland, forest, peeling and grassland. These areas offer habitats for many remarkable types of small invertebrates and butterflies to bats.
The focus was on preparation in the first few years. This included detailed ecological and hydrological surveys to create environmental baselines and earthworks to redesign the country and support natural watercourses.
Rivers and streams that have previously been smooth or drained are now returned to more natural forms, whereby Mäander and seasonal pools support wetland types. At least 3 kilometers of streams and the Glen river are restored and encouraged to follow a more natural course after centuries of drainage, drainage and sewage system.
The restoration of habitats, including those required by beavers, will bring the project back local wild animals and improve water quality. The slowdown of the river and the naturalness of floods will reduce agricultural drains and pollutants that get into the waterways.
The website also organizes company -days, guided walks, volunteer meetings and educational visits. A digital platform, wild map, pursues wildlife sights and ecological change.
The project generates income by selling ecosystem services such as biological diversity net gain (BNG) and CO2 credits and Wildland experiences. Over time, it will also produce meat sustainably. This shows how the recovery of the environment can enable long -term and sustainable use of land.
As one of the first projects to relax the landscape that is entered into delivery, Boothby helps to shape the future of land use in England. The location now employs more people than during conventional agriculture.
Pete Holland, a local volunteer in Boothby Wildland, says: “For me, Boothby symbolizes the opportunity to invest in nature in order to set up a different future for our society. As a volunteer and have the chance to contribute a small part to restore nature how it is extremely powerful and rewarding for my heart and soul.
Find out more about the Boothby project.
Upper Duddon: The second to which a implementation agreement is offered
The Upper Duddon project of the University of Leeds brings farmers, environmental organizations and the local community together to manage 2,800 hectares of upland in West Cumbria.
The project works with 10 land managers, of which 6 tenant farmers show the strength of the collaborative work. It recognizes the important role of the Hochland fur farmers and supports them in restoring habitats and improving nature in the landscape.
The Duddon Valley is hidden in the heart of the Lake District National Park and is rich in local history and culture. One of the quietest and forest valleys in the area and houses an extensive old Breitblattwald and makes it a valuable port for wild animals.
The project will restore a mosaic of meadows, heath, wooden willows, peeling, forest, moderate rainforest and ceiling -moor. In addition to the restoration of habitats, the project also helps to restore local wild animals such as Baumpipit, Pine Marten and water forests.
This project is intended to offer a number of environmental advantages, including a reduction in the downstream flood risk. The recovery work, which includes refraaturalization, improves the water quality in parts of the Duddon River and its tributaries.
A volunteer program offers the local community and visitors the opportunity to contribute to the recovery of nature. A new wildflower and tree nurse of the community will grow the flowers and trees that are needed to recover habitats.
Careful surveillance pursues the recovery of habitats and species in the course of the project.
This 20-year project will help to ensure a lively future for small farms and to support the local rural economy with the creation of new jobs. We hope that the partnerships and the progress that were achieved by this financing have a permanent effect for generations.
Find out more about the upper Duddon project.
What next for the recovery of the landscape
The government confirmed its commitment to recovering the landscape in the recent expenditure check, recognized the role of farmers, land managers and others in the restoration of habitats, the improvement of water quality and reducing agricultural contamination in our rivers and streams.
The Landscape Recovery team is currently working on evaluating the services submitted by other projects of the first round and leading them through the insurance process.
The second round of the pilot projects that we have on board in 2023 show considerable progress in their development phases. Some have also started to submit their exciting plans for certainty, and we look forward to working with these projects in the future.
Not all pilot projects will exist. Some may not be able to adopt the insurance level, and therefore a project implementation phase agreement is not offered. Others can decide to withdraw earlier or decide that their ambitions are better delivered by other sources of financing.
As a result, we have already seen how two projects left the program. These projects will go through an offboarding process and, if possible, sign it to other sources of financing so that they can continue to build on the progress made during development.
The state financing provided during the development phase helps projects to form strong local partnerships that support rural economies and carry out technical work such as environmental examinations. These activities form solid foundations for future projects and can help attract private or alternative investments.
We are pleased that further phase agreements of the project implementation will soon be signed, and the groundbreaking work that will achieve these projects due to the unique opportunity.
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