The White Peak Partnership

Suzanne FletcherHead of Landscape & Conservation (PDNPA)

Presentation to the Peak Parishes Forum 8th June 2020

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• Background

• The Partnership so far

• White Peak Vision

• Action

• What next & local community engagement

Session overview

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Summary of presentation

Dark Peak – Moors for the Future Partnership since 2002, moorland restoration work on a landscape scale.

South West Peak - National Lottery Heritage Fund Landscape Partnership (2017-2021)

White Peak – Missing link? Most fragmented habitats of any National Character Area in a National Park, identified as a priority in the State of Nature in the Peak District report (2016)

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Background

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National Park Management Plan

1. Workshop 24th March 2017‘Developing our Vision for the White Peak’

2. Workshop 3rd November 2017‘From ideas to action’

3. Vision launch 5th July 2018Organisations and key White Peak farmers

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The Partnership so far…

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Developing a White Peak Vision

The present… The future…

• A limestone landscape • Lived in, worked in and

visited• Iconic upland landscape• Brexit – future policy and

support systems• 25 Year Environment Plan• The full range of public

goods• Climate change – habitat

and species resilience • A farmed landscape• Mostly privately owned

and managed

• Agri-environment coverage falling

• Farming economics• Limited designation

coverage• Lawton principles – better,

bigger, joined up and more• One of the most

fragmented landscapes within a National Park

• Networks and connectivity• State of Nature in the Peak

District report – White Peak a priority

• Internationally important ravine ash woodlands

• Ash dieback• Dew ponds• Water pollution• Cultural heritage• Access – rights of way

and open access• Sustainability and

resilience• Interconnectivity –

people, natural and cultural environment –the place

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Key elements considered

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The White Peak Vision

“A limestone landscape revitalised…Working with nature, people have revitalised the White Peak enhancing its unique natural and cultural heritage.

Farming, business and communities work in harmony for a landscape that is healthy, fit for the future and for all to enjoy responsibly.

The networks of special habitats, wildlife and access are enhanced, enlarged and linked up, providing vital connected corridors across the landscape.Links to the past and layers of landscape above and below ground are valued and conserved.

Sustainable land management is an integral part of this limestone landscape producing high quality food and delivering a full range of public goods including clean water.”

Background

The White Peak Partnership Steering Group: -• mandate for Vision • brief for the Vision• set up task & finish groups

The Partnership Steering Group membership: -– Peak District National Park Authority– Derbyshire Wildlife Trust – Natural England – National Trust – Environment Agency – Historic England – National Farmers’ Union

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Steering Group

Background

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Action plan

Background

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Priority Action – influencing ELMs

ELMs (Environmental Land Management scheme) is the proposed new support scheme for farmers & land managers.• Opportunity of a generation• Reconciling the needs for sustainable, productive

agriculture and caring for the natural and cultural heritage • Public money for public goods

− £30 Million/year into the National Park− Current support system not working − Revised approach needed

• White Peak Pilot ideas developed through the White Peak Partnership and Peak District Land Managers’ Forum

Background

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The Peak District National Park Authority is leading one of 42 Phase 1 Defra tests, in the White Peak.The White Peak test aims to determine whether a National Character Area framework can be used as an approach to designing some of the building blocks for ELMs, and help change the relationship between Government, and farmers and land managers.

Priority Action – influencing ELMs

Delivering, through farmers & land managers, the goals in the 25 Year Environment Plan for:

Clean and plentiful water

Clean air

Thriving plants and wildlife

Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change

Reduction in and protection from environmental hazards

Beauty, heritage and engagement with the environment.

A new relationship with farmers & land managers – a contract to deliver public goods alongside market products, not customers of subsidy.

Polluter pays principle - Dame Glenys Stacey Review.

Glover Review for designated landscapes - bolder & more ambitious on wildlife & future of farming.

Current Defra thinking…

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What is the White Peak test?

Defra are funding: -

• An assessment of whether the current White Peak National Character Area Profile is fit for purpose

• Test with farmers and land managers the usefulness of a National Character Area Profile summary document that sets out the public goods that can be delivered in the White Peak

• 25 one-to-one meetings with farmers and land managers to test how a National Character Area framework can be used to design and deliver land management plans

• Three workshops to test how a National Character Area framework can be used to design and deliver land management plans and if it can be used to prioritise delivery of public goods

White Peak Test

Defra ELMs Test White Peak NCA

Prioritise public £’s for public Goods?

Thinking about what might change – the offer?

White Peak NCA summary

Land Management PlansWhat does the offer look like?

Carbon ready reckoner Budget ready reckonerPractical field trials

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Background

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Actions – Nature Recovery Networks

Spatial planning and prioritisation framework:

• NRNs will be a national network built from the bottom up.

• Natural England will lead on the delivery of the NRN. A Nature Networks Evidence Handbook is now available.

• NRNs are based on the Lawton principles of better, bigger, joined up and more to deliver the targets in the 25 Year Environment Plan of 500,000ha of new or restored habitat and 180,000ha of new woodland.

• They will also aim to mitigate the biodiversity and climate crises, and deliver a range of public goods.

• The White Peak is ahead of the game – over 100 years of adviser knowledge used to produce an opportunity map, which aligns to that produced by Natural England science team mapping limestone grassland networks.

Background

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Actions – opportunity mapping

Background

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Actions – water vulnerability map

• Led by the Environment Agency

• Using existing data to determine the water vulnerability of an area to factors such as agricultural pollution

• Currently being refined to a smaller scale

• Could be used by agricultural advisers or to prioritise funding

Background

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What next?

• Steering group meet four times per year, with rotating Chair

• Partnership meetings generally one a year

• Continue with ongoing projects

• Currently little capacity for taking forward any other projects

• Potential involvement in development of Nature Recovery Networks and Local Nature Recovery Strategies

• Improved local community involvement