FARMERS and other land managers in the Avon Valley have secured European funding to improve the natural environment on a landscape-wide scale.

The money comes from the EU via the Countryside Steward-ship Facilitation Fund as a result of an application made by the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Unit.

The AONB applied on behalf of a partnership of local land-management advisors that supports 86 holdings covering 5,000 hectares in the Avon Valley.

The fund is highly competitive, with only 19 of 36 applications successful. The Avon Valley project is one of just two in Devon that won money.

South Devon AONB project officer Roger English said: ‘The next five years will be an opportunity to work more closely with land managers in the Avon Valley supporting farming systems that sustain high-nature-value farmland and assist in retaining a network of farms with a mix of enterprise types.

‘We’re delighted to help establish the group and look forward to shaping our programme in consultation with members.

‘We’ve recently endorsed 15 mid-tier Countryside Steward-ship applications and await with interest the outcomes.’

Members of the Avon Valley group will receive training and advice from a facilitation team over the next five years with a focus on developing cooperation among land managers.

The aim is a higher standard and scale of conservation management than would be possible on individual holdings alone.

The South Devon facilitation team is led by the AONB Unit; it draws on the specialist and technical expertise of members of the South Devon Conservation Advisors’ Forum.

Membership of the land management group is diverse and includes all scales of enterprise, from large commercial farms to smallholders, as well as woodland, owned and tenanted land, a Devon Wildlife Trust reserve, Woodland Trust areas and other charitable trust land holdings.

Members will be offered advice and ­support with on-farm environmental management, a variety of land management-based workshops, events and assistance, as well as signposting to other support and funding opportunities.