The Countryside Stewardship (CS) Facilitation Fund has been set up to support individuals and groups that unite farmers, foresters and other land managers in order to improve the local natural environment at a landscape scale.
The Avon Valley group was one of 19 successful bids into this competitive fund announced in July 2015.
The group had 80 holdings and covered nearly 6000 hectares of land. Members were supported by training and advice from a Facilitation Team from January 2016 – January 2022 focusing on developing co-operation amongst land managers.
Its aim was to achieve a higher standard and scale of conservation management than would be possible on individual holdings, benefiting landscape, habitat, species and water quality throughout the mid Avon Valley area and beyond.
The Avon Valley group was led by the South Devon National Landscape Unit as Co-ordinator. drawing on the specialist and technical expertise of members of the South Devon Conservation Advisers’ Forum.
Over the life time of the group 150 meetings were staged and 54 members were assisted with stewardship applications.
Further info can be found in this presentation: Avon Valley Facilitation Group
