Cluster & Landscape Connect

(CLC) is an umbrella organisation providing support for the farm clusters and Landscape Recovery projects working across Norfolk and Suffolk. Through bringing together group facilitators and lead farmers we hope to give greater strength and voice to all our individual clusters and groups. At the same time, we aim to provide an open channel of communication with those who seek more knowledge and understanding of the work being done to produce high quality food and build sustainable rural businesses while making space for nature to thrive. We aim to provide an opportunity for consumers, customers, supply chain companies and government organisations to engage meaningfully with the farming community.

Here’s how…

 

Growing Together

How Cluster & Landscape Connect (CLC) is connecting farming and the environment.

  • Connect

  • We CONNECT farm clusters, individual farms, environmental and conservation organisations and the food supply chain.

    CLC is a pioneering organisation that CONNECTS multiple farm clusters, Landscape Recovery projects and conservation organisations to form a continuous corridor of productive farmland and restored natural habitats across Norfolk and Suffolk. At its core is a powerful principle: connectivity —across land, between people, and throughout the food system. By linking farmed landscapes with areas dedicated to long-term ecological restoration, the initiative is creating space for nature to thrive while supporting resilient, sustainable food production at scale.

    We CONNECT our farmers and land managers with science and education. From data-driven actions, landscape scale trials and research, plus a willingness to embrace technology, we are always looking for betterment across the farmed landscape. Within our farm clusters are many individuals and groups who work with schools and colleges to increase understanding of where our food comes from, how we can improve our natural world through our actions and the scope and scale of opportunities for talented people to enter the rural sector.

  • Collaboration

  • Our collaborative model recognises that every farm and landscape is different. Some farms may be fully nature-friendly already, while others are making gradual changes within the realities of their land, business, and resources. Some farms have livestock, others are solely arable; some farms are organic or fully regenerative, others are conventional but looking for ways to become more efficient.

    Similarly, Landscape Recovery areas vary in approach, from wilding parts of the land to fully regenerative land management. What unites all participants is a shared commitment to working within their own context to enhance biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and contribute to a more sustainable future for food and nature. This flexible, place-based approach allows for meaningful progress without requiring a one-size-fits-all solution.

    CLC fosters collaboration—not just among farms and landowners, but also with external partners such as food manufacturers, supermarkets, and the growing field of natural assets and the emerging natural capital markets.

  • Working together

  • By working together across sectors, these partnerships create opportunities to deliver both high-quality, sustainably produced food and measurable environmental outcomes such as carbon sequestration, improved water quality, and biodiversity gains. Only now is the value of our natural assets being realized and CLC offers a means of linking those who protect and enhance natural assets with those who can realise their value.

    For food companies, this provides a traceable, values-driven supply chain that aligns with consumer demand for sustainability. For investors and buyers in natural capital markets, it opens up access to credible, landscape-scale projects grounded in real land use and community engagement.

    By bridging farmed and recovering landscapes—and connecting them with both the food industry and environmental finance—CLC is redefining what sustainable land use can look like. It’s not about perfection or uniformity, but about progress, partnership, and building a future where food production and nature recovery go hand in hand.

     

  • Importance of Farm Clusters

  • Why are farm clusters so important?

    Linked up thinking and linked up action

    “Nature doesn’t stop at the farm boundary”. By creating a community of neighbouring farms, a cluster group can make change at scale. A continuous hedgerow that covers thousands of metres of farmland will provide a safe travelling network for bees and other insects that are crucial for pollination and pest management. Similarly, wildflower margins that continue from one field to the next, regardless of ownership, provides a sanctuary for insects, mammals and birds. Improving the health of the river as it passes through one farm will be wasted effort if neighbouring farms are not involved in the actions. By connecting farmed lands, nature reserves, rivers, woodlands and hedgerows via our farm cluster network, we are giving nature a home, not simply a series of islands.

    Working outside the silo

    CLC is a conduit for discussion with other organisations who may not have immediate access to farming groups. Working with farm clusters offers government departments, local authority, corporate companies, investors, funders and sponsors and media outlets access to a sector that is often perceived to be behind a closed door.

    Mental health and well-being

    Farming can be a lonely and stressful business. Weather dependent, subject to market volatility when it comes to pricing, currently subject to a number of government policy changes and only one animal disease away from disaster.

    For that reason, farm clusters provide a place where farmers can meet, chat, share knowledge, swap experiences and generally get support from people who really understand what it is to be a farmer. Through workshops, events and seminars, our cluster groups in Norfolk and Suffolk CONNECT farmers with their neighbours in a way that is not only good for knowledge exchange but actually provides for well-being.

     

We CONNECT farm clusters, individual farms, environmental and conservation organisations and the food supply chain.

CLC is a pioneering organisation that CONNECTS multiple farm clusters, Landscape Recovery projects and conservation organisations to form a continuous corridor of productive farmland and restored natural habitats across Norfolk and Suffolk. At its core is a powerful principle: connectivity —across land, between people, and throughout the food system. By linking farmed landscapes with areas dedicated to long-term ecological restoration, the initiative is creating space for nature to thrive while supporting resilient, sustainable food production at scale.

We CONNECT our farmers and land managers with science and education. From data-driven actions, landscape scale trials and research, plus a willingness to embrace technology, we are always looking for betterment across the farmed landscape. Within our farm clusters are many individuals and groups who work with schools and colleges to increase understanding of where our food comes from, how we can improve our natural world through our actions and the scope and scale of opportunities for talented people to enter the rural sector.

Our collaborative model recognises that every farm and landscape is different. Some farms may be fully nature-friendly already, while others are making gradual changes within the realities of their land, business, and resources. Some farms have livestock, others are solely arable; some farms are organic or fully regenerative, others are conventional but looking for ways to become more efficient.

Similarly, Landscape Recovery areas vary in approach, from wilding parts of the land to fully regenerative land management. What unites all participants is a shared commitment to working within their own context to enhance biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and contribute to a more sustainable future for food and nature. This flexible, place-based approach allows for meaningful progress without requiring a one-size-fits-all solution.

CLC fosters collaboration—not just among farms and landowners, but also with external partners such as food manufacturers, supermarkets, and the growing field of natural assets and the emerging natural capital markets.

By working together across sectors, these partnerships create opportunities to deliver both high-quality, sustainably produced food and measurable environmental outcomes such as carbon sequestration, improved water quality, and biodiversity gains. Only now is the value of our natural assets being realized and CLC offers a means of linking those who protect and enhance natural assets with those who can realise their value.

For food companies, this provides a traceable, values-driven supply chain that aligns with consumer demand for sustainability. For investors and buyers in natural capital markets, it opens up access to credible, landscape-scale projects grounded in real land use and community engagement.

By bridging farmed and recovering landscapes—and connecting them with both the food industry and environmental finance—CLC is redefining what sustainable land use can look like. It’s not about perfection or uniformity, but about progress, partnership, and building a future where food production and nature recovery go hand in hand.

 

Why are farm clusters so important?

Linked up thinking and linked up action

“Nature doesn’t stop at the farm boundary”. By creating a community of neighbouring farms, a cluster group can make change at scale. A continuous hedgerow that covers thousands of metres of farmland will provide a safe travelling network for bees and other insects that are crucial for pollination and pest management. Similarly, wildflower margins that continue from one field to the next, regardless of ownership, provides a sanctuary for insects, mammals and birds. Improving the health of the river as it passes through one farm will be wasted effort if neighbouring farms are not involved in the actions. By connecting farmed lands, nature reserves, rivers, woodlands and hedgerows via our farm cluster network, we are giving nature a home, not simply a series of islands.

Working outside the silo

CLC is a conduit for discussion with other organisations who may not have immediate access to farming groups. Working with farm clusters offers government departments, local authority, corporate companies, investors, funders and sponsors and media outlets access to a sector that is often perceived to be behind a closed door.

Mental health and well-being

Farming can be a lonely and stressful business. Weather dependent, subject to market volatility when it comes to pricing, currently subject to a number of government policy changes and only one animal disease away from disaster.

For that reason, farm clusters provide a place where farmers can meet, chat, share knowledge, swap experiences and generally get support from people who really understand what it is to be a farmer. Through workshops, events and seminars, our cluster groups in Norfolk and Suffolk CONNECT farmers with their neighbours in a way that is not only good for knowledge exchange but actually provides for well-being.

 

CLC provides a link and a channel of communication to each Farm Cluster and Landscape Recovery project. It also fosters and supports landscape scale collaborations as we feel this is the most powerful way to share knowledge, create opportunities for significant change and release the potential that is harnessed in each cluster group.

Through training, workshops, events and knowledge sharing our farm cluster and Landscape Nature Recovery facilitators can develop new skills, be confident to launch ambitious projects, explore ideas, engage in discussions, challenge common practices and drive each cluster group of LNR project forward. Our goal is to achieve betterment with all we do.

Creating a solid foundation

To ensure facilitators of each individual farm cluster feel confident that they have laid the basic legal and financial foundations of the group. Additionally, they feel confident and supported in creating an identity and, if desired, a logo and website. Via the CLC, they are confident that they have access to professionals in all these fields.

Demonstrating what good looks like

Setting standards across the entire Norfolk and Suffolk farmed area. On one level, this is good practice in running the groups (data protection, confidentiality etc). On the deeper level, this will be looking at ways of baselining certain environmental standards or accessing help from other agencies.

Collaborating for greater understanding

Bringing together clusters for test and trial at large landscape scale and joining the dots to create an ecological landscape.

Support for all

Giving individual clusters support to create one-off projects that can then be shared with the other clusters – as an example, farmers in the NNCG may trial using bio stimulants on wheat to increase drought resilience, while farmers in Broads may investigate markets for reeds grown in paludiculture system.

Outcomes:

We envisage three main outcomes from this work:

Benefit to the farmed landscape environment through connected ecological awareness, betterment and consideration across a large, contiguous area.

Benefit to the farmers and facilitators within the groups because of the feeling of being connected and supported. The impact of this more supportive approach on the mental well-being of the farmers cannot be overstated.

Benefit to the communities – an enhanced ecological and environmental landscape will tap into the ‘nature’s remedy’ aspect of health and well-being but, we also feel that by coming together in a far more cohesive way, we can start to build a narrative that will play a positive role in re-connecting communities with the land and with farmers.