In a nutshell...
Funding: £50,000
Length: ~10-year project
Location: Quantock Hills National Landscape
Aim: To pilot regenerative farming techniques that meet community, food production, and nature recovery goals.
Opportunities: Corporate visit days Corporate volunteering activities Corporate engagement with communities
The opportunity
Regenerative agriculture may present the single greatest opportunity to have the widest reaching impact for people and nature in the coming years.
Accounting for 70% of land in the UK1, the way that we farm permeates everything from soil and food quality to water pollution and flood risk.
The great news is that things don’t have to stay this way. We can produce better quality food in more nature-friendly ways that don’t reduce production.
The project
Projects like New Stowey Farm will be the pioneers of this movement.
Owned by the local authority in Somerset and managed by the Quantock Hills National Landscape, this 45ha holding has been grazed intensively by sheep for many years.
The National Landscape team has a robust baseline of carbon storage data for the land and will directly measure the impacts of this project as it unfolds.
The team plans to continue farming the land but in ways that will boost biodiversity, encourage community engagement and upskilling young people, and enable the monitoring of carbon sequestration which may lead to carbon market green financing in the future.
This project will allow us to test and trial the latest regenerative techniques that could transform the way we secure our food systems for the future.
It’s also a fantastic opportunity to engage the local community and help connect them to the work of the National Landscape.
Iain Porter, Quantock Hills National Landscape
The potential
This project will provide a critical blueprint for regenerative agriculture projects across the country.
From piloting sustainable farming techniques to involving communities and collecting carbon data, it is setting the precedent for future integrated initiatives that have the potential to solve some of our greatest social, economic and environmental problems.
Key outputs
- 45ha of grassland restored for biodiversity, carbon sequestration and the sustainable grazing of high-quality beef.
- Increased tree and hedgerow cover to protect and connect wildlife above and below ground.
- A community-led volunteer group which will influence and lead activities such as wellness walks, wildlife therapy and spotting sessions, and forest school.
- A Land Management Skills Scheme: 2-year project to upskill young people and those in long-term unemployment.
- Protection of key champion species for the area like Dormice, the scarce Brown hairstreak butterfly and the rare Pink waxcap fungus.
- 1 priceless blueprint for successful, larger-scale projects across the UK that meet the needs of food production, community support, and nature recovery.
Interested in discussing this exciting opportunity?
Chat to the team today.
