Farming with Nature Landscape Projects - Eligibility

• The project must be located in Northern Ireland and on land recorded on DAERA’s Land Parcel Identification System.
• The proposed area must be capable of delivering the scheme priorities of improving biodiversity and strengthening habitat connectivity.
• Projects should cover a broadly connected area of at least 500 hectares, or at least 250 hectares where designated sites are included. This is based on the total LPIS field area of the DAERA farm businesses registered with the project.
• Smaller projects may be considered where applicants can demonstrate that the proposal follows a clear environmental boundary, such as clusters of woods, meadows, marshes or sub-catchments.
• The project area must include at least five separate land holdings, each managed by different people. Where common land is included, the applicant must secure consent from all landowners with an interest in the common.

Holdings should be adjoining or mostly adjoining. They may be dispersed if applicants demonstrate that cooperation across separate holdings is necessary to achieve scheme priorities.

Land in an existing scheme can be included, although DAERA will not pay for the same activity twice and it is the responsibility of the Project Coordinator to ensure that no issues of double funding arise. 

Applicants will require confirmation that at least five farm businesses in the project area have been engaged before they apply and that they support the project moving forward into project development (participating farm businesses must hold a DAERA farm business ID category 1 or 2).

Farm businesses participating in the project must either have management control of the land or obtain written consent from those with such control for the period covered by the project development and delivery agreements. As such, land held in conacre agreement will not normally be eligible unless specific consent is obtained. Any application that includes land subject to common rights must be accompanied by signatures from all individuals who have management control of, or rights over, the land within the defined project proposal work area. Where this is not complete the project will not be able to move onto the next stage of assessment as it is essential criteria, which must be met. 

Successful applications will undertake a project development phase of up to 2 years where they will prepare their project against a set of milestones before going on to the delivery phase.

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