A group of 30 landowners with 6,200 hectares of land stretching from inner Lincoln towards Newark along the Witham Valley has been successful in a bid for a Landscape Recovery pilot.
The project is one of 34 to have won funding across the UK, and together, the projects involve more than 700 farmers and landowners working with their communities to support over 200,000 hectares of countryside.
They will:
- restore more than 35,000 hectares of peatland
- sustainably manage more than 20,000 hectares of woodland
- create over 7,000 hectares of woodland, including some temperate rainforest
- benefit more than 160 protected sites, which include Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
Landscape Recovery is one of the new post-Brexit Environmental Land Management Schemes and is designed to encourage long-term, large-scale projects – and this round is focused on net zero, protected sites and wildlife rich habitats.
The funding is for a two-year Development Phase during which The Lincoln and Witham Valley Farming and Nature Network will work up detailed plans to:
- improve and link the many existing protected wildlife sites in the project area with corridors for nature
- explore how farming in-between can become more resilient, sustainable, and nature-friendly
- deliver benefits for the communities that live in and visit the area
- work out a blend of government and private sector finance to pay for the activities
