Sustainable Farming
The Farming Landscape
Changes in land management and river engineering have a big impact on our wildlife and biodiversity. Natural flood meadow habitat is rare in the Evenlode Catchment due to past dredging activities whilst weirs and other barriers block the passage of fish and reduce their access to spawning grounds. Catchment based approaches to land management have considerable potential to produce effective actions on the ground and deliver a range of ecosystem services.
Such actions rely on different stakeholders engaging together to incorporate different values and benefits in decision making processes. In the Evenlode catchment we have the potential for multiple scales of value being delivered through projects, and seek to achieve active engagement at different points and with very different groups of stakeholders. We aim to deliver projects that will enhance biodiversity and improve the habitat and ecology of our rivers.
North East Cotswold Farmer Cluster
The farmer cluster aims to grow an inclusive and pro-active group of local farmers, landowners, and advisors who work together to deliver benefits for soil, water and wildlife, as well as building more resilient food and farming businesses. The cluster regularly meets for knowledge sharing discussions and other events.
Learn more on the North East Cotswold Farmer Cluster website.
FarmED
One of the best forms of engagement available to us is through the active promotion of demonstration sites, and the hosting of meetings and events, when organisations and individuals can view past and current projects. We are fortunate to have several partner organisations who help facilitate this, including Honeydale Farm.
This multiple-benefit scheme has been delivered by a number of partners: the Cotswolds Rivers Trust, Cotswold Seeds and Windrush AEC Ltd. It is a useful local focal point to promote thinking about the benefits, costs and likely issues of revised land management, and they actively encourage school visits.
