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    10

    Nov 2021

    Last Updated: 09/11/2021
    Environment
    Environment

    Grants of up to £150,000 available for Nidderdale farmers

    by Suzannah Rogerson

    | 10 Nov, 2021
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    Nidderdale farmers are being invited to apply for grants of up to £150,000 from a government fund to give financial support to projects trying to improve the area.

    nidderdale-farming

    Nidderdale farmers and land managers are being encouraged to apply for grants of up to £150,000 as part of a government scheme to improve the area.

    The Farming in Protected Landscapes grant programme has been running since July but the team at Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) are eager for more people to apply.

    The programme offers a financial boost for one-off projects that support one of four areas; nature recovery, mitigating the impacts of climate change, providing better access or engagement with the landscape or increasing the business resilience of farms.

    The scheme will run for three years until March 2024.

    In the first year alone, until January 2022, around £575,000 has been earmarked for projects in the Nidderdale AONB.

    Matthew Trevelyan, Nidderdale AONB’s Farming in Protected Landscapes officer, said:

    “Since the grant programme launched in July 2021, we’ve been able to provide support for a huge variety of projects ranging from habitat restoration to farm business diversification.”
    “One of the great things about this programme is that we are able to help fund projects that fall outside the scope of existing agri-environment schemes. The best Farming in Protected Landscapes supported projects fulfil more than one of the outcomes.”
    “We’re also keen to get project partners working together at a landscape level – after all wildlife doesn’t care much for where one farm stops and another starts.”


    Some of the projects that have recently received funding include a group of dairy farmers monitoring soil carbon levels and experimenting with the new machinery to prevent soil becoming too thick to work with.

    Another project will see several neighbouring farms working together to encourage endangered birds to nest on their land.



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    The programme is open to all farmers and land managers, including from the private, public and charity sector, in the Nidderdale AONB, or where activity can bring benefit to the AONB.

    Other organisations and individuals can apply but they must be working alongside a farmer or land manager.

    Funding has also been set aside under the same scheme in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and North York Moors National Park.

    It all forms part of the government’s Agricultural Transition Plan.

    Those wanting to apply can contact the AONB team.