Farmers set for public funds to drive UK’s nature recovery
Farmers will gain fresh access to public funds to invest in restoring wildlife and nature, as the government targets the recovery of the UK’s lost natural habitats, Morning Wire can exclusively reveal.
Environment secretary Therese Coffey will announce at 10 Downing Street later today her plans to launch an additional round of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF).
The new funding round will be the first time NEIRF focuses specifically on the farming sector, with farmers also able to team up with others to secure finances for rewilding.
The date and size of the funding round are not yet disclosed, but it is expected to take place later this year.
So far, 86 projects across England have received development grants of up to £100,000 through two competitive rounds of the £10m NEIRF in 2021 and 2022.
DEFRA wants to provide direct funds to farmers so they can show progress to potential investors and unlock private sector funding to restore nature.
While food remains the chief focus of farming, a thriving natural environment can improve the wider ecosystem which crops rely on, alongside boosting carbon sequestration, water quality, biodiversity, and natural flood management.
Coffey’s announcement will take place at the first ever ‘Nature for Finance’ event, which will bring together farmers, land managers, investors and conservation experts to identify new investment opportunities for in nature recovery.
NEIRF funds projects that have the potential to produce revenue from the benefits nature provides to attract and repay investment, alongside projects able to produce an investment model that can be scaled up and reproduced.
An example of this is the Wendling Beck Exemplar Project, a partnership between private landowners, local authorities, environmental NGOs, and Anglian Water.
This aims to transform land use for environmental benefit while also selling ecosystem services such as natural flood management (NFM).
The government is also expected to confirm the start of the piloting phase of a new version of the Green Finance Institute’s (GFI) investment readiness toolkit.
This will provide farmers advice on how to create investable nature finance projects – with a pilot phase underway imminently.
Coffey said: “Food production and enhancing the environment go hand in hand. We must continue to support farmers to keep our nation fed while also safeguarding the valuable biodiversity and landscapes we rely on.
“Today’s event is an important step forward in bringing together farmers and financiers to invest in nature and unlock new opportunities to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of farm businesses.”