Final opportunities for the Fellfoot Forward Environment Grant

An update on funding and applications by Tim Jacobs

The Fellfoot Forward Environment Grant has over a year remaining to support nature projects but it has already achieved an impressive level of success, thanks to the farmers, landowners and communities of the scheme area that have come forward to do their bit to support nature’s recovery, whilst also benefitting their farms and land.

What has been particularly heart-warming is that, even at this unprecedented time of uncertainty for the farming sector, many farmers have wanted to undertake projects. For instance, restoring and creating new hedges, which has been very popular, probably because hedges provide valuable livestock browse and protect livestock from loss of condition from extreme weather, such as the Helm wind and the summer spells of hot weather. Hedges also help to connect wildlife across the landscape and this type of project really demonstrates how well farming  and wildlife go together, hand in hand.

Image: Volunteers hedge planting (c)North Pennines AONB Partnership

Although the Fellfoot Forward Environment Grant is a modest fund, the North Pennines AONB Partnership has been able to support more and larger projects by helping farmers and landowners apply to Defra’s Farming in Protected Landscapes programme. To date these two funds have supported the following across the Fellfoot Forward area:

• Restoring 5.4 kilometres of hedgerows.
• Planting 14 kilometres new hedgerows.
• Planting nearly 1,000 field trees, including fruit trees.
• Creating over 110 hectares of new woodland with partner organisations, including several large areas as well as small areas of wood pasture and scrub – and helping to connect up wildlife across the landscape.
• Restoring and re-wiggling two stretches of beck, including Howgill Beck at RSPB Geltsdale.
• Enhancing habitat along river banks by reducing grazing to benefit nature as well as the river’s water quality and freshwater habitat that it supports.
• Creating or enhancing wetland habitat – including over 10 new ponds and scrapes.
• Providing additional nest boxes for swifts, pied flycatchers and barn owls – with barn owls already using some of these boxes.

Image: Howgill Beck re-wiggling showing the original channel unfilled on left (c)George Heritage, Dynamic Rivers

The Fellfoot Forward scheme has also been supporting farm wildlife projects by running a small programme for volunteers who want to do something positive for nature. This has been received very positively by volunteers, who are keen to get out and help restore and plant new hedges and woodland, and by farmers who have been grateful for the help as well as for a bit of banter.

A big thank you to all the farmers, landowners, and volunteers who have worked with us so far. There is still Environment Grant funding available and we are particularly keen to support community projects to benefit nature. Projects could be anything from creating an orchard, enhancing community areas with wildflowers, or perhaps enriching the local landscape with more field trees to replace those lost to ash dieback and the recent storms. If you would like to have a chat about project ideas and funding, please email Tim Jacobs, conservation officer with the North Pennines AONB Partnership, or call 07920028975.

Image: Wood planting at Gamblesby (c)North Pennines AONB Partnership