Shropshire Hills project receives almost £1m from National Lottery

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £993,475 in development funding to Shropshire's Landscape Connections project.

A report on the Heritage Fund website explains:

The project brings together farmers, communities and young people to improve habitats and strengthen ecological networks across one of England’s most treasured landscapes. With almost £1m in development funding awarded and the potential for a further £8.9m in delivery funding, the project will support long-term stewardship while helping more people connect with nature and heritage.

Over the next decade, the project aims to work with more than 200 landowners across the Shropshire Hills, delivering four large-scale river restoration projects alongside 120 smaller capital nature restoration initiatives. Local communities and parish councils will be supported to deliver Shropshire’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy, while funded traineeships for young people will help secure the landscape’s future for generations to come.

Through Landscape Connections, fund has already invested more than £2.7m in development funding to projects in the Solway Coast and Marine area, the North Pennines, and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs, with the potential for almost £25m in delivery funding to follow.