Welcome to the latest monthly update from the Coast & Heaths AONB and Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley.
In this update:
News of an exciting programme, with financial support from Defra, for farmers and landowners to support AONB purposes.
Grants given out from the AONB to communities, businesses and charities to support projects in the AONBs.
‘You're through to the next round’, an invitation for the AONB team to submit a full bid for £600,000 to the Landscape Enhancement Initiative for projects to benefit the Dedham Vale.
Please forward this email to anyone who may be interested, or they can sign up to receive future Monthly Update emailshere.
Thanks for your support,
Simon Amstutz
AONB Manager
Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme
Defra have launched a new programme that will give financial incentives to farmers to deliver projects that benefit the AONB purpose.
The national Farming in Protected Landscapes programme has the key objectives to deliver work that benefits protected landscape (National Parks and AONBs) qualities, in particular those relating to nature, climate, people and place. More details of the three-year programme are available on theDefra website.
In the year to 31 March 2022 there will be around £116,000 available for project delivery in the Dedham Vale AONB and £218,000 in the Coast & Heaths AONB. Find out more using the links below:
£40,000 of Sustainable Development Fund money was available in theCoast & Heaths AONB. The fund was oversubscribed and received requests for over £70,000. The grant panel awarded £38,857.34, over 17 projects (for projects valued at over £100,000).
In the Dedham Vale there was £30,000 of funds available and grant requests totalled just over £28,000. The panel awarded £20,830.37 over 10 projects (for projects valued at £51,346.68).
In addition, in the Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley, a grant of £1,400 has been awarded from the Stour Valley Environment Fund for a project in the Stour Valley project area.
Invitation for AONB to submit full grant application for £600,000
An expression of interest has been submitted by the AONB team and its partners to the Landscape Enhancement Initiative (LEI) for funding of £600,000 for three projects that have a total value of around £800,000.
Following initial assessment the grant giving body have invited the AONB team and its partners to submit a full application. Further updates to follow as the application progresses.
For the first time this annual conference will be held online. As with previous face-to-face conferences, delegates will be welcomed by this year's host county. This year it’s the turn of Devon, and its five AONBs.
The theme of the conference is ‘A Climate for Change - Climate Change and Nature Recovery in National Landscapes’ and will look at the essential role the landscape approach plays in tackling climate change and nature recovery, essentially two sides of the same coin.
The Conference will inform, enthuse and engage delegates during a time of unprecedented change and opportunity.
We are delighted to welcome our second Government funded Kickstart placement to the AONB team. They will join Ethan Brown, our first Kickstart placement, who is already doing an excellent job supporting our communications work.
Those of you who attended our recent Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Forum will have seen some of his work on the ‘young people in conservation’ video that was shown.
The AONB team has recently advertised for a Seasonal Ranger, a post funded through the Government’s Covid-recovery ‘Welcome Back’ initiative, following a bid by our partner Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils.
Volunteer Activity
As coronavirus restrictions ease, organised volunteer activity builds up again. It is worth noting the efforts of many AONB volunteers, and those facilitated by many other organisations, have continued to deliver throughout this difficult time.
This month has seen work on the removal of non-native invasive plants and work on the Beachwatch programme. Thanks to all those involved.
A note on Sizewell
The AONB Partnership has requested to participate in the next round of hearings to give its view on the impacts of the Sizewell C project on the nationally designated landscape.
It is worth getting some idea of the scale of the proposed operations by looking at an EDF video featuring the comparable project at Hinkley Point C.
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