We are currently undertaking a Defra test and trial (T&T) on the local delivery of environmental land management. It is a Somerset-scale project and is focused on:

• Establishing current large-scale projects that are manging land for environmental benefit.
• Current and potential networks where there is collaborative working, or there is the potential for this, to deliver positive landscape-scale environmental impacts.
• Private finance markets that could provide necessary resources for projects to be realised.

As part of the T&T we are involved in farmer engagement with the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) and will be holding workshops in February 2024 to provide information about the strategy development process and its focus, and to gather the views of our members to feed back to the council and Local Nature Partnership (LNP). Through our Barometer Farms, we are trialling the development of a farm management plan to support farmers in identifying opportunities that would bring funding and private finance to their businesses whilst also benefiting nature and reducing or adapting to climate change impacts.

We have been working with the LNP, on their green finance subgroup, to gain a better understanding of current private finance opportunities and those that are on the horizon, as well as considering a framework for supporting farmers in making the most of this market given their specific farm circumstances.

We will shortly be advertising a workshop on ELMS, this test and trial and regulatory compliance, where we hope to have speakers from the Environment Agency and the Rural Payments Agency. We will advertise this opportunity in the usual way and update this webpage with the booking details, so watch this space.

If you would like to contact us about the test and trial, please email Mandy Lowe, [email protected]