By 2024 deliver the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, providing a locally tailored, locally delivered, outcome-focused grant programme that helps to maintain, restore and improve the outstanding natural capital and rural heritage of the National Park.
How the local partners are doing on this objective
Progress:
In 2022/23 the National Park Authority provided grants to worth £885,000 to 74 local farm businesses through the Defra-funded FiPL programme. In 18 months, the programme has supported: restoration of over 175 ha of grassland; enhanced management of 700 ha of moorland; creation/restoration of 12,000m of hedgerows; restoration of 3 traditional barns; creation of facilities for educational access on 2 farms; production of 24 farm carbon audits and the implementation of 4 regenerative grazing projects.
In February 2023 Defra announced that the 3-year FiPL programme has been extended for a further year, with significantly higher levels of grant funding available in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Press Releases & relates articles:
20 June 2022 – ‘Good start’ to farming grants programme
Rationale: Brexit provides an opportunity to re-think the way in which farming and land management can be better supported to deliver public benefits in a National Park. Amongst the farming community there is strong support for a more collaborative approach that gives greater local flexibility to deliver a wider range of environmental outcomes whilst still allowing the whole farm to work as a system. Through the Yorkshire Dales Farming and Land Management Forum and other local partnerships a consensus is emerging about how a future national agri-environment scheme should work in nationally-important environments like the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Lead partner: Yorkshire Dales Farming & Land Management Forum
Supporting partners: Natural England; Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority; Northern Hill Farming Panel; Forestry Commission.
Further information: Future of farming – .GOV.uk website
Cost over 5 years: £100,000
Funding shortfall: None
Related objectives: A1; A9; C1; C2; C3; C4; D1; D2; D3; D5; E4; E9
Ecosystem services: Food provision; Timber provision; Genetic diversity; Energy; Climate regulation; Water quality; Water Flow; Soil quality; Soil erosion; Pollination; A sense of place and inspiration; A sense of history; Recreation; Biodiversity; Geodiversity.
Trade-offs: Any environmental land management scheme will act to reduce the amount of livestock, crops and other products that could, theoretically, otherwise be produced by farm businesses (E9). In practice, evidence shows that most farm businesses in the National Park would not be viable without support from such schemes.
Baseline: n/a