Cumbria looks to align nature recovery efforts at a landscape scale

The strategic discussion workshop held in Keswick on Tuesday, 20th January, and organised by Nature North and Cumbria Connect, brought together major landowners, conservation organisations, public agencies, local authorities and land managers.  The focus was on how nature recovery activity across Cumbria can operate more effectively at a landscape scale through collaboration, alignment and making best use of the significant work already underway.

Discussions centred on how the county’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) provides a shared framework for prioritising action and connecting existing work. Participants explored how applying the Lawton principles of making nature ‘more, bigger, better and more joined up’ can connect projects and deliver greater long-term benefit.

A key theme was understanding the full picture of nature recovery activity across Cumbria. Scoping and mapping current and emerging projects was seen as essential to reducing duplication and making better use of skills, funding and resources.  The workshop also highlighted opportunities to integrate nature recovery into wider activity including infrastructure such as roadside verges and hedgerows which can play an important role in linking habitats across the landscape.

 

Collaboration between landowners and managers was identified as central to this approach with recent government support for collaborative farming and land management referenced as a timely opportunity to enable collective action.

Keynote speakers included Jim Lowther, who shared inspiration from the nature recovery work on the Lowther Estate, and Lisa Chilton from Scotland: The Big Picture, who highlighted the value of trusted partnerships and ambition in delivering lasting outcomes.

Mike Innerdale, Regional Director for the North of England at National Trust and Chair of Nature North said:

“I was delighted to co-host this event with Cumbria Connect.  Nature North is all about collaboration and scaling up together and this felt like a practical example of that in action. There is a huge amount of work already happening across Cumbria including emerging Landscape Recovery Schemes.

“The day created a strong sense of collaboration and highlighted the opportunity Cumbria has to accelerate nature recovery by working with farmers and other land managers.  Connectivity was a key theme throughout, from how we connect our current and future ambitions more coherently to learning better from one another.  We hope this will help drive the LNRS ambitions for the county.”

Martin Varley, Programme Manager for Cumbria Connect, added:

“Cumbria Connect is focussed on making nature recovery work at scale. By building on existing programmes and investment we can align effort, share skills and ensure nature recovery across the county delivers impact at the scale needed.”

Organisers said the meeting “demonstrated Cumbria’s ambition to work collectively and its ambition to lead nature recovery across the North while contributing to national targets such as protecting and restoring 30 per cent of land for nature by 2030.”

 You can find out more about Cumbria Connect here, and by contacting Bailey Lamburn (Communications Manager) or Martin Varley (Programme Manager)