News

Rumoured 12% cuts to Defra core funding for National Landscape teams could create redundancies affecting up to a third of staff in some teams.

Government’s commitment to international 30 by 30 target relies on nature recovery work in National Landscapes.

End to Farming in Protected Landscapes programme (FiPL) will impact Government’s nature and climate targets.

The National Landscapes Association are warning of huge disruption to vital work on nature and climate and a likelihood that the government will fail to reach its international commitment to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030.  The cuts could be compounded if calls to extend the successful Farming in Protected Landscapes programme are also ignored.  As managers prepare budgets for 2025/26 the government has not yet provided clarity on the funding situation. Meanwhile rumoured 12% cuts would be compounded by inflation on costs meaning some teams could see up to a third of staff lose their jobs.

The Shropshire Hills is one of 46 National Landscapes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Together these areas cover 15% of England, 20% of the coastline and are home to 10% of the UK’s farmland. They are in a prime position to help the UK reach its climate and nature targets. Many are staffed by teams in single figures, meaning cuts of this scale are literally existential.

John Watkins, Chief Executive of the National Landscapes Association said:

“Government has high expectations of National Landscapes as the backbone of nature recovery to meet its international commitments and legal targets. But on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Act which created National Landscapes, National Parks and National trails, the situation has never been more dire. 25 years ago the new Labour Government was advised by the Countryside Commission to increase funding for National Landscapes to £19m (£35m in today’s money), but they didn’t heed that advice. 25 years later, we are in the same situation with a new Labour government, but with the threat of further cuts in the face of a nature and climate crisis. We are calling on the government to truly invest in nature.”

In the Shropshire Hills, our small staff team act as both deliverers and ‘animators’ – facilitating, advising, supporting and encouraging action by a wide range of partners; farmers and landowners, organisations, community groups and individuals.

Phil Holden, Manager for the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Team said:

"This wealth of knowledge and activity is essential if we are to address the challenges facing us in the Shropshire Hills.  The Landscapes Review has raised the expectations on National Landscapes and their staff teams, and to meet these we need more funding not less.  But as a bare minimum we need to be able to retain the staff and current capacity we have, by our core funding being raised in line with inflation."

National Landscapes receive more visitors combined than National Parks, they cover almost double the area of the Parks, experience significantly higher levels of pressures from both farming and development, the value of the landscape is equal in law and yet they receive 16% of the core funding of National Parks and have seen financial cuts of more than 40% since 2010.

Throughout this chronic underfunding, National Landscape teams have shown their ingenuity, securing funding from external sources to continue to deliver. Now the situation has hit crisis point, further cuts will mean reductions in core teams such that some will not even have the staff to apply for external funding and their nature restoration efforts will grind to a halt.