Farmers in the Chichester Harbour National Landscape received good news today with the announcement that the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) grants programme will be extended. The news was welcomed by local farmers and by Chichester Harbour Conservancy, responsible for the management of the protected National Landscape.
The scheme allocates funds to farming and land management projects that contribute to nature recovery, climate resilience, sustainable businesses, social wellbeing and community building, heritage conservation and better access for people to enjoy our National Landscapes and National Parks. Locally the programme is administered by Chichester Harbour Conservancy.
Tom Monington farms land within and adjoining the Chichester Harbour National Landscape. A FiPL grant funded new equipment to allow the farm to effectively plant and establish winter cover crops. Cover crops improve water quality by locking up excess nutrients and preventing leaching into harbour waters. They also improve soil health by reducing soil and water run off, and provide winter-feeding habitat for wildlife. Tom welcomed the announcement:
“After a tricky spell of consecutively difficult farming seasons and pressures from government policy, the recent news that the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant programme will continue is positive. It will allow farmers to speed up innovation, benefit the environment, and develop some fantastic initiatives to directly increase the biodiversity on our farms for the benefit of wildlife, the local community and for future generations to enjoy.”
Across the Chichester Harbour National Landscape the programme has funded more than 20 initiatives to promote regenerative farming and improve water quality. These include the adoption of precision GPS machinery that applies fertiliser tailored to the specific needs of plants, minimising nutrient run off into harbour waters.
The Chichester Harbour National Landscape Director, Richard Austin said of the announcement:
“As well as feeding the nation, the farmers around Chichester Harbour can play a key role in restoring nature, mitigating the effects of climate change and improving the water quality here. In the four years since the start of the Farming in Protected Landscape programme we have worked with farmers and landowners to make a real difference to the state of nature in the National Landscape, and we look forward to another year of projects that deliver for wildlife, conservation, water quality and the local community.”
Further highlights of the FiPL programme around Chichester Harbour include:
- Working with 19 farmers and landowners across 5100 hectares of farmland.
- Soil health improvement projects covering over 4000 hectares.
- Over 1000m of new hedgerow planted.
- Support for the formation of two farming cluster groups, allowing farmers to better work together for the environment at a landscape scale.
Find out more about Farming in Protected Landscapes around Chichester Harbour here.