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THE North Pennines AONB Partnership and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority have opened nominations for a prestigious award for nature-friendly farmers and land managers in Upper Teesdale and Upper Swaledale.

Through Tees-Swale: Naturally Connected, a collaborative programme funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the two organisations are seeking nominations of the best examples of High Nature Value farming.

The High Nature Value Farming Awards aim to recognise and reward examples of the nature-friendly upland farming practices which have sustained the largest expanse of semi-natural habitats in England.

Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “The forward-thinking and collaborative work being done as part of the Tees-Swale: Naturally Connected project, to boost biodiversity, mitigate climate change and connect people to nature, aligns firmly with our key priorities at the Heritage Fund.

"So, we are incredibly proud to support this new awards programme that will see local farmers and land managers recognised for their contributions and the vital work they’re doing to support a more resilient and nature-rich landscape.”

British ecologist, Professor Sir John Lawton, is chairman of the Tees-Swale project board and also chairman of the award’s judging panel. Previously head of Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the last chair of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, he led the independent review of England’s wildlife areas, published as Making Space for Nature in 2010.

Sir John said: "This natural heritage, and the high-nature value farming systems that have sustained it, are under threat in the face of economic pressures and an uncertain future. Their remoteness does not make them immune to the climate and biodiversity crisis, which faces the whole world. If, as a nation, we are to hold on to nature and support its recovery, this is where we must start - and on a transformational scale."

The awards have three categories with a £500 prize for each:

High Nature Value farming best practice: to recognise farmers and land managers who have continually managed important habitats and species (such as curlew) on their farm and who have integrated sensitive high nature value farming methods into their farming business for many years.

Nature recovery: to recognise farmers and land managers who have carried out work on their holding to create, restore, and expand species-rich habitats.

Public engagement: to recognise farmers and land managers who have created opportunities for the wider public to connect with farming and nature.

Claire Hodgson, programme manager for Tees-Swale: Naturally Connected, said: “We are working with farmers and land managers to put nature at the heart of farming – increasing biodiversity through enhancing the meadows for which Teesdale and Swaledale are famous, creating ‘scrapes’ (small upland ponds) to support wader birds and invertebrates, and restoring peatland to capture carbon.

"The awards will celebrate these farmers and land managers – the ones who have continually practiced high nature value farming, who are restoring threatened areas, and those sharing what they are doing with the wider public."

Farmers or land managers who farm in the Tees-Swale area can be nominated, either by themselves or others, via our website: at www.northpennines.org.uk. The Tees-Swale area covers Upper Teesdale and Upper Swaledale.

The closing date for nominations is Thursday, September7, at noon. Shortlisting and judging will take place over the late summer/early autumn and winners will be announced in late November.