The Government has just announced the second round of funding for its landscape recovery programme. Given the scale of the scheme, the first round funding has tended to go to projects hosted or partnered by larger landowners, such as the National Trust, for its Holnicote and Killerton projects. Some may argue that allocating funds to organisations that already have an environmental focus and the resources to pursue it is not the best use public money and would prefer to see an approach that maximises environmental and social impact (both stated aims of the programme) through increased collaboration that delivers funding to a larger number of smaller businesses. That will require considerable engagement from and with organisations such as the national park authorities and the wildlife trusts, whose input will be essential in enabling smaller farmers and landowners to access the programme.
