02/01/23 - Landscape Recovery Pilot

Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) are being introduced in England to replace the subsidies paid under the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. In this programme, we visit one of 22 pilot projects for the "Landscape Recovery" scheme. A group of 50 farmers and landowners in the north east Cotswolds are being paid to make changes across over 3,000 hectares along a river catchment with the aim of improving water quality, increasing biodiversity and contributing to the prevention of urban flooding downstream. Although the pilot is worth £500,000, the group are confident they will attract much more funding from private finance.

Presented and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons