Cluster, Landscape, Connect was centre stage – quite literally -at the Norfolk FWAG Landscapes Conference which took place at the Norfolk Showground on 3rd November.
CLC were joint sponsors (alongside farm business network Offa) of Stage C at the Conference.
This is the third year for the Landscapes Conference and more than 400 visitors poured into the venue to listen to the speakers and visit the exhibition stands.
The theme of the day’s discussions was ‘Where Is the Money Coming From’ and the three stages offered different perspectives when it came to answering this challenging question.
On Stage A, the speakers, chaired by Norfolk County Council’s Wendy Brooks, looked at Norfolk’s Water Future & turning Policy into Practice.
The talks, delivered by a range of speakers that included Hannay Gray of Water Resources East and Jen Burlingham who heads up the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) took the audience through a range of ideas. These included nature-based solutions, environmental investment and the implementation of emerging policies and strategies. The sessions connected practical land management with wider regional approaches to water, nature recovery and land use.
Stage B investigated how best to make the Business Case for Nature Investment and was chaired by Annie Somazzi of Swallowtail Consulting.
The purpose of this session was to explore how private investment can support nature recovery and farm business resilience. The sessions dug into investor demand, how best to measure environmental impact, corporate reporting frameworks and the practical routes through which funding can reach farmers and landowners.
Speakers included Susan Twining, Chief Land Use Policy Advisor at Country Land and Business Association, (CLA); Fi Watters and Charlie Cutt of World Wildlife Fund and Kate Russell of Tellus Natural Capital.
The third stage was dedicated to farm clusters and landscape recovery projects. The talks covered the development and future ambitions for Cluster, Landscape, Connect – delivered by Sarah Juggins and Kate Dewally; a typically provocative talk by farmer Ali Cargill, who emphasised the importance of not just looking over the hedge, but seeking opportunities to work wth your neighbours; a case study from Cumbria where farmer and business woman Jane Lane and facilitator Jemma Wilson have been driving sometimes reluctant farmers to create the Orton Fell Farm Cluster.
Farmer Fiona Borthwick explained how a series of disasters sparked Deepdale Farm’s journey into organic farming; Tom Scrope talked about creating the Facilitator Forum map and outlined examples from other countries; and then Charlie Cutt and Fiona Watters showed how an organisation such as WWF can help clusters deliver on their goals.
Mike Mack, CEO of Offa, added a commercial element as he explained how the Offa network brought farmers together so they could sell, buy, rent, or loan assets to add another layer of income to their farm businesses.
In the afternoon panel discussion, David Marsham, (West Norfolk Nature Network), Tim Field (Evenslode Project), Tom Scrope (Soil Benchmark), Sarah Juggins (CLC and NNCG) and the Bishop of Norwich, joined Natural England’s Peter Craven in a lively discussion on the importance of farm clusters and landscape recovery projects.
Over the course of the day, Kate Dewally manned the CLC stand as more than 150 people came to express their interest in farm cluster groups. Kate was able to show the interactive map of clusters that she has developed alongside Tom Scrope.
