New support to help farmers access private funding for nature recovery

The event brought together farmers, land managers, investors and conservation experts to identify new investment opportunities that drive forward actions to mobilise investment in nature recovery while continuing to maintain the country’s food production.

At the event, which was organised on the back of the UK Farm to Fork Summit last month, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey announced the launch of an additional round of the Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF) later this year to address barriers to accessing private investment for nature recovery.

This round will be the first time the NEIRF focuses specifically on the farming sector, helping farmers to come together at a landscape scale to combine their offer to investors, and enabling more types of farmer to access and benefit from nature markets.

Ahead of the event, the secretary of state commented: “Today’s event is an important step forward in bringing together farmers and financiers to invest in nature and unlock new opportunities to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of farm businesses.”

The NEIRF provides funding for projects that have the potential to produce revenue from the benefits nature provides to attract and repay investment, as well as projects able to produce an investment model that can be scaled up and reproduced.

To date, 86 projects across England have received development grants of up to £100,000 through two competitive rounds of the £10 million NEIRF in 2021 and 2022.

One of the projects to receive funding from the NEIRF was The Wendling Beck Exemplar Project, which aims to transform land use for environmental benefit while also selling ecosystem services such as Biodiversity Net Gain.

Explaining more about its mission, project lead Glenn Anderson said: “Wendling Beck is a pathfinder project for financing land-use change through new nature markets.

“Projects like Wendling Beck are critical in safeguarding long-term food security – through mitigating existential challenges to climate, water and biodiversity – and enhancing the national natural capital reserves which underpin our economy.”

Mobilising nature finance

The secretary of state has also announced the launch of the pilot phase of a new version of the Green Finance Institute’s (GFI) investment readiness toolkit which will provide a tailored framework offering farmers advice on how to create investable nature finance projects.

In the pilot phase, the GFI will gather insights from stakeholders – including those in attendance at yesterday’s event – to ensure the toolkit meets the specific needs of farmers.

The government will also consult later this year on specific steps needed to mobilise additional nature finance through voluntary markets and protect against the risk of greenwashing, seeking input from experts in finance, business, environment, and farming sectors.

In addition, Defra has recently partnered with the British Standards Institution to ensure the adoption of sound scientific standards underpinning nature investments and avoiding greenwashing.

Archie Ruggles-Brise, estate manager of Spains Hall Estate in Essex, commented:

“The opportunities for land managers to engage directly with finance professionals, tech providers and local authorities around environmental markets are rare, especially at this early stage of the market. So to be afforded that chance through the Essex County Council led NEIRF project is exciting.

“This could be game changing for farms, as once the income side is proven it opens the door for all kinds of support for transition to alternative, more sustainable, land use choices. It’s all about having more choice, especially beyond commodity markets, now and in the future.”