ELMS Tests and Trials
Start Date: Jan 2019 End Date: Mar 2021
Environmental Land Management System (ELMS) Test and Trial project
Blackdown Hills National Landscape was one of 12 National Landscapes (formerly Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in England that took part a National Landscapes Association programme to provide information to help Defra in the design of the new Environmental Land Management system.
Each of the 12 AONBs focussed on a different aspect of ELMS.
The purpose of the Blackdown Hills project was to explore how investing in the capacity of landowners to liaise and build trust amongst themselves can improve ELMS take-up in high-nature-value landscapes.
The aim was to develop peer-to-peer collaboration, with ‘farmer ambassadors’, with a view to improving connectivity between close or adjoining holdings, allowing collective identification of public goods and agreement on appropriate approaches to their management.
The project:
- Collated mapped habitat, natural capital, water quality and natural process data for the whole AONB using GIS mapping software, to produce a map of hotspots.
- Translated the Blackdown Hills National Landscapes Management Plan into geographical form (a landscape spatial framework) and overlay the hotspots map.
- Analysed a hotspots map, identifying the greatest co-incidence of natural capital and opportunities for policy implementation, comparing this against known farmer engagement, opportunities and challenges, and identifying two zones for the project to focus on.
- The farmer ambassadors then approached 10 farmers in each of the selected zones to encourage them to participate, supported by expert advisors.
- The signed-up farmer peers for each zone were then brought together to consider the landscape spatial framework of the zone, and co-design environmental outcomes which could be pursued across the area, identifying shared environmental assets, shared responsibilities, collective challenges and collaborative opportunities.
- The farmer ambassadors then worked with the farmer peers to develop component land management plans (LMP) for each of the 10 holdings in each zone. The land management plan process included ground-truthing mapped information, identifying assets and opportunities, and agreeing on desirable actions.
- Reconvened the farmer peer groups for each zone and worked with them to define the capital and management costs of the works required to achieve the environmental outcomes agreed within each zone.
- Brought together the results from both zones to evaluate the exercise overall and draw out common themes and learning. This was then reported back to Defra and the National Landscapes family. This information can also be used to inform the Blackdown Hills National Landscape management plan in future.
Read more about farming in the Blackdown Hills National Landscape
