The Upland Alliance is delighted to have been awarded funding from The Prince’s Countryside Fund to engage farmers, politicians and policy makers to ‘Create a Brighter Future’ for England’s Uplands post Brexit.
Purpose
This project will over the two years 2017-19 enhance the capacity of English hill farmers and land managers to run viable and resilient businesses and prepare for the impending changes in agricultural policy. The upland farmed landscape provides a wonderful array of public benefits but the link between these and the payments hill farmers receive under the current support system has been too tenuous. so we seek to enable hill farmers to confidently offer a fresh covenant to the public. This covenant can secure funding where the market fails to properly reward them for the products they provide society. We will assist farmers make a transition in thinking so empowering them to reevaluate their assets and their offer. In parallel the project will engage with other stakeholders to reiterate the urgency of investing in maintaining and enhancing the natural, social and cultural capital of the farmed uplands for society. Our upland national parks receive over 70 million visits each year yet the payments made under BPS and stewardship equate to only £3.30 per visit.
Actions
- Engage advisors to develop engagement plan with Steering Group and key contacts in hill farming networks and partnerships
- Engage advisors to develop engagement plan with Steering Group and key contacts in hill farming networks and partnerships
- Print T towels
- Start implementation of engagement plan with hill farmers via
- farmer networks,
- commoner federations and
- hill farming groups
to empower farmers to review their business models and incorporate public benefits as products
- Established contacts with 30 key publications to “run” the story and
- achieve10 published stories
- Hold Engagement Event in Parliament – engage with 150 parliamentarians and NGOs
- Support regional bodies deliver the change message to hill farming businesses
- Start selling tea towels to recover costs and distribute the message wider
- Plan and start a series of engagement events to explore the transition from subsidies to payments to Local Delivery of Outcomes for Society
- Achieve a further 20 published stories
Measurable Outcomes
Through events, targeted publications and other engagement routes reach out to 1300 hill farming businesses and 150 key influencers.
Uplands Alliance: A Network for England's Uplands 