Exploring the role of floodplain meadows in England’s Landscape Recovery schemes

Landscape Recovery (LR) is one of Defra’s England-wide environmental land management schemes, supporting partnership projects that aim to restore nature and deliver multiple environmental benefits at scale and over the long term. Farmers and landowners, environmental organisations and local communities co-create plans specifically tailored to their area. Projects are encouraged to be ambitious and to spread risk by combining government funding with private investment, utilising income streams such as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units and carbon credits. 

By focusing on environmental goals, projects are intended to demonstrate that nature recovery can be economically viable and beneficial, strengthen rural communities and support local action to make space for nature alongside sustainable food production. 

Landscape Recovery projects are expected to contribute to national priorities, including:

• achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 
• meeting the 2030 species abundance target and other legally binding targets covering biodiversity, water quality and tree cover 
• delivering clean and plentiful water as set out in the Plan for Water 
• wider commitments and objectives for nature set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan and Environmental Improvement Plan, including bringing protected sites into favourable condition and protecting 30% of our land for nature through the Nature Recovery Network 
• the Green Finance strategy, and the aim to raise at least £500 million in private finance for nature recovery every year by 2027.

The Floodplain Meadows Partnership (FMP) wants to increase the impact and practical application of research on species-rich floodplain meadows and flood management through influencing activities in a number of LR projects in England. Such projects probably represent one of the best opportunities to help achieve Natural England's ambitious goal of 74,000 ha of floodplain meadow. Conversely, the multifunctionality of floodplain meadow habitats can help to achieve the aims and objectives of projects involving rivers and wetlands in both rounds.   

We have therefore undertaken some work through a contractor (Ann Skinner) to:

• make contact with relevant LR projects from Rounds 1 and 2 to explore the extent of floodplain meadow restoration being planned or undertaken;

• explore the potential to increase the extent of floodplain meadow restoration; 

• produce contact details and a list of projects and subjects where advice and guidance would be useful and productive over the next couple of years; and

• provide a brief written summary and discussion of the findings.

This initial work has now been completed and you can see both the final report, and a Frequently Asked Questions document here:

The role of floodplain meadows in Landscape recovery schemes in England report  

FAQ's and answers

We will being to build further relationships with a number of projects once approvals have been progressed with defra for the next phases of some of the projects. We are already working with some projects where approvals have already been achieved (e.g. the Evenlode Project). 

https://www.cotswoldfarmers.org/evenlode-landscape-recovery