We’re delighted to announce that Defra has extended the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme until March 2026.
Nationally, FiPL has been a huge success, engaging with over 7,000 farmers and land managers, funding more than 4,600 projects. This success has been reflected in the Cotswolds, where we have allocated £4.5m to 170 successful project applicants.
Projects have been really diverse – from accessible farm pathways to allow people to connect better with farming and nature, to carbon baselining studies, local community food production, natural flood management schemes, a wealth of regenerative agriculture projects, and even projects which support traditional practices such as orchards and walnut production. The projects in the Cotswolds have impressed throughout with their creativity and commitment to the four themes set by Defra: climate, nature, people and place.
The extension to the programme is fantastic news for farmers in the Cotswolds, and our FiPL team is looking forward to continuing to work with the farming community here to help build more resilience and beauty for this treasured landscape.
We expect further details to be released soon about how much funding we will have to allocate during the programme extension in the Cotswolds – so watch this space.