Thousands of projects have been delivered since the programme was launched including around 500 flood reduction projects, habitat restoration for pollinators and other wildlife, farm classroom creation facilitating hundreds of farm visits, tree planting, and projects to reduce the need for synthetic fertilisers, amongst many others.

The chairs of the National Landscapes Association and National Parks England recently wrote to Daniel Zeichner MP, Minister of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with a request to extend the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme until March 2027.

FiPL is unique in being popular with farmers and landowners for its ease of application and the accessibility of knowledgeable officers based in the local area. It also fills gaps not met by other farming support available, especially for smaller landholders. 85% of surveyed FiPL participants stated that they would recommend the programme to others.

The innovative FiPL programme approach blends national, regional and local priorities and devolves decision making to local experts. It also fills gaps not met by other farming support available, especially for smaller landholders. Contributions to nature recovery and climate resilience, sustainable businesses, social wellbeing and community building, heritage conservation and better access for people to enjoy our nation’s landscapes all feature in programme delivery, coming together to make much more resilient rural places.

Benefits of FiPL

• Light touch application process
• Diversification funding for more resilient rural businesses
• Funding for nature friendly farming initiatives
• Genuine public goods for public money
• Rich community engagement opportunities
• Intelligent, devolved decision making with clear understanding of local priorities and opportunities and flexibility
• Knowledge sharing

A popular programme

FiPL is unique in being popular with farmers and landowners for its ease of application and the accessibility of knowledgeable officers based in the local area. It also fills gaps not met by other farming support available, especially for smaller landholders. 85% of surveyed FiPL participants stated that they would recommend the programme to others.

Devolved decision making

The programme devolves decision-making to those who know the area well, with a senior member of the National Landscape team reviewing applications under £10,000 and a panel of local experts making the decisions on applications above this threshold.

Dougal Hosford who farms Traveller’s Rest Farm in the Dorset National Landscape is a panel member. He says of the programme: ‘It’s been totally revolutionary – the FiPL advisors are accessible and give excellent advice on how to make your project better, to deliver more. Delivery through local teams puts the projects into the wider context – FiPL is how we go about serious nature recovery.’

Alongside Dougal, the Dorset National Landscape FiPL panel includes another farmer, a local landowner with strong environmental knowledge, staff members of the local authority including the county ecologist and National Landscape staff members. The National Landscape team takes a landscape scale view – looking at touchpoints between FiPL projects and nature recovery efforts elsewhere in the area, helping outcomes become greater than the sum of the parts.

Dougal commends the programme for its rigour, but also the light touch application process which is straightforward for farmers: ‘I’m currently applying for different grants programme. I’m at the fourth and final stage and I’ve had to complete a different, lengthy form each time. With FiPL, the process is much more straightforward. I, and the other members of the Local Assessment Panel know the area and can add context to the decision, we might need to ask follow up questions, but generally we can fairly quickly assess what represents a good investment. This adds rigour as our knowledge means we can add funding conditions to improve the outcomes.’

Business diversification – delivering on many fronts

Charlie Hancock and Kat Herbert were supported by a FIPL grant to launch their business Game Changer Charcuterie, based at the Kindersley family’s Sheepdrove Farm in North Wessex Downs National Landscape. Their business closes several loops: the south of England has an over population of fallow deer, negatively affecting the wider ecosystem.

Their FiPL grant covered an R&D project investigating how the less popular cuts of venison could be used, leading to the creation of venison charcuterie. The second stage of their FiPL funded work was to provide training to young butchery students and chefs.

Kat says: “Game Changer fills so many gaps – utilising a resource we have an overabundance of to help biodiversity, while also being able to give really high-quality training to young people so they can go on to plug a skills gap – it gives us a real sense of completing a circle.”

Charlie says of their grant: “It’s no exaggeration to say that without the FiPL funding, we wouldn’t have been able to build the academy. More than this though, without our FiPL officer’s advice and enthusiasm, we wouldn’t even have had the confidence to develop it as an idea.”

After the seed funding FiPL provided, the Game Changer team are focused on growing the business, selling charcuterie products and providing paid for training courses to those who can pay in addition to the free training for younger people, to make the business thrive.

Sheepdrove farmer Rosie Kindersley says: ‘It is widely acknowledged that deer populations have increased to the point where they are having a devastating impact on the countryside. On our organic farm, wild venison is a by-product of protecting our woodlands, hedgerows and downland and woodland wild flowers. This wild venison is probably the most sustainable, low-impact, high-nutrient meat available in the UK and yet the demand for it is almost non-existent. This must change and Charlie and Kat are solving this problem both bottom up and top down - from training catering college students in venison butchery and charcuterie to high end retail with Game Changer's fabulously flavoursome cured venison treats that add the wow factor any grazing platter. We are thrilled to host Game Changer Academy on our farm.’

Improving the nation’s nature friendly farming knowledge

The Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme (FiPL) has supported a large-scale collaborative project, 'Pasture for Profit' run by Pasture for Life, which is working with farmers and specialists across five Northern Protected Landscapes (Lake District National Park, Forest of Bowland National Landscape, North Pennines National Landscape, Yorkshire Dale National Park and Nidderdale National Landscape).

Farmers can get involved with this project in a range of ways, from receiving free, innovative mentoring to joining on-farm events and online webinars. Farmers can go as far as becoming Pasture for Life accredited which means that all the animals on their farm are grass fed, however anyone interested in farming more regeneratively and producing better quality food can benefit from the Pasture for Life learning.

Janet and Andrew Smalley of Wood End Farm in Forest of Bowland National Landscape initially took part in soil sampling and since then have attended webinars and study tours, they also find the local Pasture for Life WhatsApp chat hugely useful with knowledgeable people ready to share useful information.

‘When you start to learn about soil,’ Janet says, ‘you just start to see how much more we could do. It’s a huge mindset change. We’re looking to reduce the amount of fertiliser we need to use on the farm and use rotation to create healthier soils.’

The farm also has a mentor through Pasture for Life, funded by FiPL.

‘Our mentor Alan has been brilliant. He answers questions really promptly and visits. The reassurance you get from someone who knows what they’re talking about giving you tips but also just confirming that you’re doing the right thing. When you’re running a business and making changes, you need that, it is a massive weight off at what could be a really stressful time.’

A collaborative approach across landscape – with measurable results

To maximise benefits across the area, every five years National Landscapes teams develop a Management Plan, in consultation with local residents and environmental stakeholders. The Management Plan is a condition of designation, and a valuable tool to help guide restoration efforts. Farming in Protected Landscapes funding has underpinned this proven approach: FiPL officers within National Landscapes teams have set up farm clusters, or worked with existing groups, sharing information running workshops and facilitating opportunities to learn and work together.

Richard Thornbury, Land Manager at Hillfield Friary Farm, Dorset National Landscape has found working with the farm cluster beneficial and seen species reestablishment.

‘This project has been the gift that has kept giving. The work it facilitated helped deepen the relationships within the Cluster, which opened new opportunities to work together which were then also further funded by this agreement. We now have solid records for a number of sites with integrated management plans of how the Cluster can work together to enhance their value for nature, new areas of chalk grassland with new opportunities for managing these emerging habitats with appropriate cattle grazing and, to top it all, off Duke of Burgundy butterflies recorded on a new site! I never thought we would be able to achieve so much or see such wonderful results so quickly.

Localised delivery at this scale seems to me to be the best way of ensuring public money is spent effectively to deliver the actual benefits it has been assigned for.’

Community engagement

Nick and Lucy Tyler from Kingsplay Farming Company Limited are third-generation farmers, who farm land in the North Wessex Downs protected landscape. They recently won the Mixed Farmer of the Year award at the 2024 Farmer’s Weekly awards.

Nick and Lucy are passionate about community engagement and run a school visit scheme where they partner with local schools with the aim being for all children to visit their farm on an annual basis.

Lucy says ‘Labour shortages are a real issue in the UK agricultural industry - we believe the only way to change this is through community engagement. We love hosting farm visits, especially school visits - the young people are always so engaged and it’s a great opportunity to showcase the wide variety of roles and opportunities that a career in agriculture has to offer.'

The business has received FiPL funding to purchase a countryside people carrier and toilet block, with hand-washing facilities, as well as funding to build a classroom on the farm, all of which will enhance Nick and Lucy’s farm visits.

Other than through FiPL, capital funding for community engagement is not available via government grants. Through the farm visits payments scheme, farmers tend to roughly break even once insurance, preparation time, visit time and disposables are covered – leaving nothing for capital investment.

’The FiPL funding we have received has been invaluable in ensuring we can offer our visitors the best possible experience when they visit us,’ says Nick, ’There is no other capital grant funding available for community engagement, which is why it is so important that FiPL funding continues’.

Funding not available from other sources

Dave Oates farms at Rosuick Farm on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. His farm is very diversified – the different streams of his work keeping the business sustainable.

Dave has native pedigree Welsh Black cattle and Clun Forest sheep used for conservation grazing enhancing habitats such as Lowland heathland, woodland pasture, and species rich grasslands. This grazing is vital for supporting these rare habitats.

He also hosts a wide range of events and tours on farm to get the public and school children onto the farm. Dave’s Organic rotational farming includes; heritage grains, wild bird seed plots and herbal leys. He and 6 other farmers in Cornwall are also taking part in a field trial funded by FIPL investigating establishment techniques for herbal leys – grasslands that provide food for pollinators, improve soil structure and fertility and capture more carbon from the atmosphere.

Dave has used FiPL funding to buy specialist equipment and set up “Meadow Match” – a project finding healthy meadows, harvesting seeds and transplanting them to improve other fields in the local area for Nature.

‘FiPL is the funding I’ve waited decades for. Farming in unique landscapes requires flexibility, every farm is different. The National grants programmes don’t take local needs into account. For instance, to get to many of the fields I farm, I have to go along small lanes and then through a narrow gates. FiPL has supported me to buy a narrow seed drill. The larger schemes won’t fund drills with a working width of less than 3m, too big for fit down our lanes. Ensuring that funding programmes support smaller farms is essential to meet the nature and climate challenges we face and to keep rural communities sustainable.’

Investment, not spend

The wide range of projects supported delivers multiple benefits: nature-based solutions are often the cheapest and most effective in tackling critical issues like flooding, drought and pollution; seed funding for rural businesses creates jobs and sustainable communities; investment in access and education improves wellbeing, creates new routes into employment and nurtures pride in and care for the environment.

The 1000s of projects funded are as varied as the landscapes they are based in, and the success and popularity of the FiPL programme demonstrates the need for flexibility: what works brilliantly in one place may not somewhere else.