The eighth round of the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund - worth £2.5 million - has opened for applications today, Defra has announced.
The fund encourages collaboration between groups of farmers and land managers to improve local environmental outcomes.
Those interested will be able to bid for a share of £2.5m of funding which will be made available over the next three years.
Each group can apply for up to £50,000 to deliver improvements, with the fund designed so that projects can be tailored to the character of the local area.
Since it was established in 2015, the fund has seen around 6,000 farmers come together in 224 groups to improve nature restoration in their local areas.
Farming Minister Mark Spencer called on farmers and land managers across the country to consider joining the eighth round.
He said: “Coordinating action and working together has been shown to achieve greater environmental benefits than individual actions alone.
"This is why I’m delighted to announce a further £2.5m under our popular Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund to bring more farmers together to protect some of our most important habitats, from meadows to woodlands”.
Projects from previous rounds include the South Pennine Facilitation Fund, the River Ribble Group, the 1066 Farmers Groups and the Herefordshire Meadows Group.
The 1066 Farmers group is located in nationally important areas such as the South Downs National Park and High Weald AONB.
They have used the fund to bring together multiple farmers and land manages to improve sustainability across 36,000 hectares of farmland.
The project has also helped land managers to protect and grow their income and assets.
Elsewhere, the Herefordshire Meadows Group has used the fund to restore 237 hectares of flower-rich grassland by promoting sustainable land management systems.
The group has grown with 62 members and over 500 grassland managers, and is building a network of local people with skills in plant identification, management advice and contracting services for grassland management.
The fund is funded by Defra and delivered by Rural Payments Agency (RPA), with technical advice and monitoring and evaluation provided by Natural England.
RPA chief executive, Paul Caldwell said: “This latest announcement ensures that both new and existing groups will once again benefit from government funding to deliver long-term improvements to their local area.
“Farmers can amplify the benefits already provided by the Countryside Stewardship schemes to deliver meaningful large-scale environmental change."
Both new and existing groups will be able to apply for a share of the funds by completing an online application on the government's website.
Applications will be open for 12 weeks until 15 January 2024.
