Minister casts doubt on future of £40M Farming in Protected Landscape Scheme

05 February 2025

Minister casts doubt on future of £40M Farming in Protected Landscape Scheme

  • Scrapping of popular FiPL scheme means cut of £40M for farmers in protected landscapes
  • National Landscapes warn of massive blow to farmers if scheme axed
  • National Parks warn ditching FiPL will affect Government’s environment targets

The National Landscapes Association and National Parks England fear FiPL will be scrapped following a lack of reassurance from Daniel Zeichner MP, Minister of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the wake of a 2% cut to Defra budgets.

The chairs of the National Landscapes Association and National Parks England wrote to Daniel Zeichner MP with a request to extend FiPL until March 2027, but the minister did not offer any reassurances, and this has cast further doubts over the future of the programme for farmers worth £40M annually.

FiPL supports farmers and landowners in protected landscapes to deliver nature friendly farming initiatives and support access and education projects while also putting farming businesses on a firmer footing.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs faces a 2% cut to its budget for 2025-26 and this is expected to impact the budgets of National Landscapes and National Parks and also the extension of FiPL. Farmers in protected landscapes could be hit hard, alongside nature and climate targets if Defra cuts funding for FiPL.

Jonathan Dimbleby, broadcaster and patron of South Devon National Landscape said:

“It is hard to exaggerate the value of the Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme. As I have discovered firsthand during visits to farmers in South Devon National Landscape, the Programme allows them to develop innovative ideas that deliver important nature and climate outcomes as well as making their businesses far more resilient. The farmers I talked to especially liked the flexibility and tailored advice they get from a knowledgeable local farm adviser. This sets FiPL aside from other programmes.  33 of South Devon’s 107 FiPL projects engaged with schools, community groups or volunteers performing a vital role in linking ‘farm to fork’. The programme needs to be extended to enable Protected Landscapes to deliver many more projects to meet national, regional and local priorities, encouraging more farmers to engage with agri -environment schemes that benefit all of us.”

Richard Langton, Chair of the FiPL Local Assessment Panel for the Lincolnshire Wolds, said:

“At a time when other areas of government support for farmers and landowners have been in decline, the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme has made a valuable contribution to enhancing the environmental and economic vitality of the Lincolnshire Wolds.  Over the last three years 66 applications for projects have been supported across the breadth of the Wolds, with each application scrutinised by an assessment panel consisting of local farmers and landowners as well as national agencies.  By harnessing local insight and engagement, the programme exemplifies a successful approach to tailoring central government funding to meet both local needs and national objectives.  Having established it credentials and momentum, it is important that the programme retains its funding so that it can continue to play its valuable role in delivering the government’s aspirations for the rural environment and economy.”

In 2022, National Landscapes and National Parks teams worked with 2000 farmers on projects to benefit climate, nature, people and place through FiPL. In the past two years alone, teams in National Landscapes have supported Defra, to get £15.8m of funding to farmers to deliver nature friendly farming and access projects including 337 projects to reduce flood risk; 68 miles of hedgerow planted and the creation of 56 permissive paths. (2022/23 figures).

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