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Spending Review 2025: a commitment to farming 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Farming across the UK
Steve Reed, Environment Secretary, stands outdoors at a livestock show talking with two men. He is in the centre, wearing a brown jacket and light blue shirt, listening. On his left, an older man in a dark coat and black bowler hat gestures while speaking. On his right, a suited man with a red and blue striped tie looks down thoughtfully. Cattle and people are visible in the background.

Standfirst: Following the Spending Review, Defra has secured a multi-year funding commitment from HM Treasury. More than £2.7 billion a year will be invested in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026 to 2029. Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% over this time period.

Guest post: Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery

Dry stone wall in foreground of image showing the Upper Duddon Valley under blue skies

In the first round of Landscape Recovery, £12 million of development funding was awarded to 22 projects in England. This money supports plans to restore rivers, boost biodiversity and much more. The projects represent hundreds of farmers and landowners working together to deliver significant environmental change. One such project is the Upper Duddon Landscape Recovery Project, for which I am project lead. In this post, I will shine a light on our work.

Landscape Recovery: get ready for the second round

Trees in Cannock, England

You may have seen in our recent environmental land management update that the second round of Landscape Recovery will open in spring. To help you prepare, we’re hosting a series of webinars. In this post, I’ll share a brief overview of Landscape Recovery, our progress so far and the details of those webinars. 

Learn more about the Landscape Recovery scheme

I’m excited to share an invitation to farmers and other land managers to join one of our online introductory sessions about the Landscape Recovery pilot. The sessions will be a chance to learn more about the upcoming pilot, ask questions and share your ideas for its development. Your feedback and questions will help us develop and finalise the details of the scheme.

Protected landscapes: an overview

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Payments to support parks, National Landscapes and the Broads

You might remember that in the Agricultural Transition Plan, we mentioned the introduction of a Farming in Protected Landscapes programme. We’re preparing to release more information about that programme in the coming weeks, but before then, I wanted to share a few reasons why protected landscapes are so important.