Landscape Recovery Funding Scheme (United Kingdom)

Deadline: 21-Sep-23

Farmers and land managers can apply to get money for projects that support net zero, protected sites and habitat creation.

Aims and Project Examples

• This year’s application round will fund projects that support net zero, protected sites, and wildlife-rich habitat.
  • Projects that contribute to net zero could involve:
    • peatland
    • woodland and trees, including ancient woodland and temperate rainforest
    • other sequestering habitats, such as salt marsh, intertidal seagrass, intertidal mudflats and hedgerows
    • carbon sequestering practices, such as regenerative agriculture
  • Protected sites include:
    • sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs)
    • special area of conservation (SACs)
    • special protection areas (SPAs)
    • Ramsar wetlands
    • national nature reserves (NNRs)
    • inter-tidal marine conservation zones (MCZs)
  • Wildlife-rich habitats could include:
    • acid or calcareous grassland
    • coastal saltmarsh or sand dunes
    • intertidal seagrass or mudflats
    • ponds, bogs or fens
    • rivers or streams
    • scrub or hedgerows
  • All projects should provide extra benefits, such as:
    • improved water quality
    • helping threatened species to recover
    • improved soil health
    • increasing resilience to natural hazards, for example, flooding, drought, erosion, fire
    • social benefits such as physical access, participation and engagement with nature

Funding Information

• The maximum amount of development funding you can apply for in this round is £750,000 per project. This does not include VAT.

Length of Scheme

• Landscape Recovery is a long-term scheme. Each round is split into 5 phases:
  • Application: the period when you can apply to join the scheme. You must submit your application by midday on 21 September 2023.
  • Evaluation: where Defra will assess application forms and offer places to up to 25 of the highest-scoring projects. This will take around 10 weeks.
  • Enrolment: where the Environment Agency and Natural England carry out further checks. This will take around 10 to 14 weeks. If these checks are successful, you’ll be offered a project development grant.
  • Project development: where you’ll prepare to implement your project. This phase will take up to 2 years.
  • Project implementation: which is when you’ll deliver your project if you are offered an agreement after the project development phase. They will agree the terms and length of your implementation agreement during the project development phase. Projects are likely to last more than 20 years.

Eligibility Criteria

• All private land managers and landowners are eligible to apply. This includes:
  • farmers including farm tenants
  • foresters
  • charities
  • non-farming businesses and organisations
  • collaborative groups
• Public bodies can also apply, but only in collaboration with private land managers (landowners or tenants).
• Public bodies include:
  • government departments
  • non-departmental public bodies
  • local authorities
  • national park authorities
  • Crown estate
  • royal parks
  • parish councils
• Non-government organisations, private companies, agents or other third parties can apply or run a Landscape Recovery project on behalf of other land managers.
• The person who applies (the lead applicant) does not need to be a land manager within the proposed project.
• Land managers from Natural England and the Environment Agency cannot be the lead applicant for a project. But they can be involved as long as any conflicts of interest are declared and managed.
• Land managers involved in the project will need to have management control of the land, or the consent of those with management control, for the duration of the project development and implementation agreements.

Eligible Land

• Your project must be:
  • on land in England
  • a broadly connected area of at least 500 hectares (ha)
• Connectivity is important for many of the environmental outcomes they want to achieve. Yet they understand that habitats and land ownership in England are sometimes fragmented.
• Project areas can have some gaps. But applicants should show how these gaps will not compromise their project’s environmental outcomes. They will assess this as part of the primary environmental objectives criterion.
• Projects can:
  • involve whole holdings or parts of them
  • extend across national borders as long as there is at least 500 ha in England – only the land in England will be eligible for funding from this scheme
  • include land that is in other government schemes
• If your project includes or affects a protected site, they recommend that you discuss your proposals with Natural England and seek their advice on your application.

For more information, visit Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.