Sustainable farming and land management

National Parks in England are living, working landscapes.

National Park Authorities play a centres role in delivering a ‘triple dividend’: enhanced environment, improved productivity and more vibrant communications.

In our Parks, sustainable farming and land management systems deliver a wide range of public goods, and farmers receive a sustainable and realistic income.

We will deliver sustainable farming and land management by:

  • Delivering effective Environment Land Management Schemes

    Working with farmers, land managers, Defra and other partners to increase buy-in to sustainable farming policy.

  • Linking national priorities to the local context

    Our approach links spatial prioritisation, nature recovery and other public benefits.

  • Ensuring investment is sustainable and delivers benefits

    Making sure that current investment in agri-environment focuses on public benefits and supports farm businesses.

  • Being 'environmental brokers'

    We blend public-private and green finance to contribute to resilient rural communities and economies.

National Park Authorities bring enhanced environment, improved productivity and more vibrant communities.

Over the next 10 years:

  • National Parks to be priority areas within ELMS – where applications receive a priority weighting or identified nature recovery ideas and other key public goods are allocated ringfenced budget.

  • ELMS to provide funding for delivery of a broad range of public benefits that include cultural as well as natural capital – ELMS will be a key tool to both manage and enhance natural and cultural heritage and improve public understanding of, access to and involvement with natural beauty.

  • ELMS to be a tool for economic, social and environmental well-being – an integrated approach to ELMS, facilitated at a local level has the potential to ensure investment in ELMS can deliver economic and social as well as environmental benefits. An initial investment of £150m in ELMS could, through local integration and facilitation deliver a wider economic benefit of £300m per annum.

  • Priorities to be identified and agreed at a local level within a national framework - a formal role for National Park Management Plans within ELMS, and beyond, to determine how national and local priorities can be delivered with spatial priorities informing individual land management plans (as the potential application mechanism for ELM) and landscape scale action.

  • Resources for advice and facilitation – dedicated farm advice and facilitation resource in each National Park working with farmers and land managers and across our boundaries with AONB partners to deliver better outcomes.

  • Farmers and other land managers to be engaged in design, delivery and monitoring of ELM – they are empowered and supported with technical advice and support to ensure that the environment is as much a part of their business as food production.

  • The National Park brand to be recognized as a ‘quality mark’ for environmental management and high-quality food production. o NPAs to have a key role as ‘environmental brokers’ – linking buyers (public and private sector) of environmental goods with potential providers (landowners, managers and farmers).

  • A clear and effective regulatory baseline – that protects the natural beauty and environment of National Parks and statutory rights of access.

  • Public support – the wider public are aware of, understand and support the role of NPAs, farmers and land managers in the caring for the National Park special qualities and the payment of public funds for public good delivery.

We are more than the sum of our parts

Working at a landscape scale is a strength of National Park Authorities.

We don’t own much of the land, only around 10%, so we regularly work with farmers, landowners, the community and many other bodies across the entirety of National Parks.

With a breadth of collective expertise - ecologists, planners, environmental scientists and rangers - we know our landscapes in depth, and we know the impacts that climate change and biodiversity loss are having on them. This gives our local partnerships many of the answers to nature recovery.