Funding Boost For Farmers
Published: 12 December 2024
Farmers in Welsh National Parks are set to receive an exciting new boost in support and funding in 2025 after Welsh Government announced the development of Ffermio Bro: Farming in Designated Landscapes; a new scheme which will support nature friendly farming practices in our Welsh National Parks and Landscapes.
Coordinated by Tirweddau Cymru, the National Landscapes Partnership, Ffermio Bro echoes the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) scheme which has been in effect in England since 2021 and remains hugely popular. The scheme will provide additional investment to allow farmers to work in partnership with National Park and National Landscape bodies to deliver bigger and better outcomes for the environment, visitors and communities. It will also integrate incentives for positive farming practices that support National Park purposes.
This good news for Welsh farmers follows a period of campaigning last year in which we asked Campaign for National Park supporters to lobby Welsh Government for a Sustainable Farming Scheme which supports nature-friendly farming and provides new incentives for farmers in National Parks through a FiPL style scheme.
With your help and the campaigning support of Cymdeithas Eryri, Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales and the Alliance for Welsh Designated Landscapes, we helped raise hundreds of voices in support of a new agri-environment scheme which is one more piece in the puzzle helping to turn the tide on declining nature outcomes.
The fantastic work already being done by farming officers in National Parks can now take another step forward as we look for assurances that this scheme will now become an integral part of the collaborative layer of the forthcoming Sustainable Farming Scheme, shaping how farmers and Designated Landscape bodies work together for the future success of farming and nature in our National Parks.
As we celebrate the start of a new scheme in Wales, it is also a timely reminded that FiPL in England is set to conclude in 2025. Without assurances from UK Government, it is unclear whether this support will be extended or replaced so we call on UK Government to commit to a long-term funding package for farmers in English National Parks to continue receiving the coordinated farm support offered by FiPL.