Defra will soon open the second round of the Landscape Recovery scheme when they’ll welcome bids from farmers and land managers who want to take a large-scale, long-term approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land.
In the first round, 22 pilot projects were chosen, which aimed to restore nearly 700km of rivers and protect and enhance 263 species across over 40,000 hectares.
The second round, due to open in May, hopes to build on the success of the first round, supporting even more projects across the country to create large-scale, long-lasting positive environmental change.
In this round, Defra are looking for 25 projects to take forward for development and sites could be provided by any landowner or land manager, including individuals, organisations and collaborative groups. This round will focus on projects of at least 500 hectares targeting net zero, protected sites and habitat creation. They can include landscape scale projects creating and enhancing woodland, peatland, nature reserves and protected sites such as ancient woodlands, wetlands and salt marshes.
The application window is expected to close in August with successful bids due to be announced around October.
What is Landscape Recovery?
The Landscape Recovery (LR) scheme, one of the Environmental Land Management schemes, funds landscape projects through bespoke, long-term agreements that extend beyond twenty years. It aims to support large-scale land-use change for the long-term, with funding from public and private sources, ultimately producing positive environmental and climate outcomes through habitat and ecosystem restoration.
Who is Eligible to Apply?
LR is open to any individuals or groups who want to collaborate to deliver large-scale projects, on sites from 500 to 5000 hectares. Below are some key points:
- all land types will be eligible, including land inside or outside protected areas, as well as common land.
- the land can be considered under any management control or current use – including farming, foresting, managed as individual holdings, estates or by public bodies
- public bodies need to apply in collaboration with other land managers – for example, with neighbouring landowners or tenants
- the land can be already part of existing agri-environment schemes, as well as those not involved in any scheme
- applications can be submitted by a facilitator working on behalf of a group of land managers
How are Projects Selected?
Defra works with a panel of experts to select projects based on a range of criteria including:
- feasibility and cost
- environmental benefits, carbon, and climate resilience
- social impact and community engagement
- impact on food production
- longevity
- project leadership and delivery
Applicants for LR that are not selected for funding will be signposted to other schemes which may be more appropriate for their proposal.
How will Projects be Developed?
Due to the likely complexity of these types of projects, Defra will take a staged approach to project development. The successful projects will therefore go into a development phase which could be up to two years, before moving on to project implementation. Defra will provide funding to support successful projects to prepare for delivery.
During this stage, activities may include feasibility studies, local stakeholder engagement, obtaining consents, monitoring, and evaluation plans. Applicants will also be required to develop a costed delivery plan. Bespoke funding arrangements will also be developed with Defra, including negotiating payment rates, and securing private funding.
It’s worth noting that not all projects will make it through to implementation, but Defra will direct these projects to alternative funding.
What are LR Payment Rates?
Defra will look at funding arrangements to ensure “payment structures should provide a steady and reliable income stream for land managers.” Defra will benchmark payment rates against other government schemes to make sure payments offer value for money – it’s expected that payments will range between £200 to £900 per hectare, per year. These costs will be covered by a mixture of private and public funding.
The team at Engain can provide expertise to anyone considering applying for the second round of the Landscape Recovery scheme. If you’re looking to make a bid, Engain can help with a range of services including evaluating habitats, identifying degradation and improvement measures, at a landscape scale.
To find out more, call us on 01225 459564 or email enquiries@engain.com