Guidance

[Closed] Criteria and scoring guidance for Landscape Recovery: round 2

Updated 20 October 2023

Applies to England

Round 2 is now closed. This guidance should be used as reference-only.

Before you apply to the Landscape Recovery scheme, read this guidance and the applicant guidance .

This guidance provides the criteria we’ll use to assess bids for the second round of Landscape Recovery pilot projects.

You should use this guidance to help you answer the questions in project proposal form. The questions you’ll need to answer for each criterion are included in this guide.

Landscape Recovery pilot projects: criteria

We’ll assess your application against 6 criteria, with a total of 100 points.

Your application will be evaluated by a panel of subject matter experts from:

• government
• government advisory bodies
• academia
• farming

If it fails one of the criteria or does not meet the passing threshold, your application will not progress.

Table 1: Criteria summary

Criteria	Pass or fail or scored
Project readiness	Pass or fail
Primary environmental objective 1: biodiversity How your project will manage and create habitats for biodiversity: - protected sites for example, sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) - wildlife-rich habitat outside protected sites (new and existing)	25 points
Primary environmental objective 2: net zero How your project will reduce emissions or increase storage of carbon in key habitats and wider land uses: - peatland - woodland and trees (new and existing) - other sequestering habitats and land uses, such as salt marsh	25 points
Secondary environmental objectives: environmental co-benefits and resilience How your project will manage and create habitats to enhance co-benefits including: - supporting threatened species -air, land, and water quality - hydrological and ecological function - landscape and heritage - climate resilience - risk reduction for example from flooding, drought, fires, erosion, or invasive species	20 points
Social impact How your project will deliver social impact including: - physical access - participation - engagement	10 points
Food production How you have: - assessed the impact of your project on food production - minimised negative impacts - demonstrated how it will contribute to environmentally sustainable food production	10 points
Value for money How you have demonstrated value for money and assessed costs	10 points

Criterion 1: project readiness

1. Why is Landscape Recovery the right scheme for your project?
2. Have you completed and uploaded the land manager support form?
3. What are the responsibilities of your project members during the development phase? How will they work together?
4. What are the main risks to the project’s success and how do you plan to use the development phase to reduce them?
5. Do you understand that one of the requirements of the project development phase is to secure private funding to complement Defra’s funding for project implementation? You risk being removed from the scheme if you cannot show you’ve taken steps to achieve this.

Guidance for applicants

You must explain why:

• Landscape Recovery is the right scheme for your project
• you’re unlikely to deliver your project through other funding

Focus on the 4 distinguishing features of Landscape Recovery:

• large-scale projects
• long-term public funding
• bespoke agreements
• blended public and private funding

You should provide evidence that:

• all land managers in the project area, including tenants and those with rights of common, are supportive of your project
• your project is ready for enrolment and the project development phase
• you’ll make good use of the funding and support available

When you detail the responsibilities of project members during the development phase, you’ll need to include:

• the proposed single legal entity who’ll act on behalf of your project and be the signatory to the agreement with Natural England or the Environment Agency
• how you’ll manage the project, and how you’ll get project management support if you do not have it
• a framework to ensure project members understand their responsibilities - such as a memorandum of agreement

You must also state the approximate duration in months of each activity listed in the project development phase cost form (column I).

Scoring

This is a pass or fail criterion. The panel will assess whether your answers meet the requirements.

Criterion 2: primary environmental objectives

How will your project deliver against the primary environmental objectives for this round of Landscape Recovery?

Round 2 projects will focus on 2 primary environmental objectives:

• improving biodiversity both within and beyond protected sites
• delivering net zero

Your answer must cover both of these objectives where they are relevant to the sites, features and habitats of your project.

Primary environmental objective 1: biodiversity

Improve biodiversity through:

• the maintenance or restoration of protected sites or features, especially SSSIs, to a favourable condition or healthy state - we’re particularly interested in projects that reduce the impacts of invasive, non-native species in SSSIs and surrounding areas
• the creation, restoration, or continued effective management of wildlife-rich habitats, outside of protected sites - check eligible habitats in Schedule 1 of the Environmental Targets Biodiversity England Regulations 2023 and Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006

Primary environmental objective 2: net zero

Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or increase storage of carbon through:

• the restoration and maintenance of peatlands
• the planting, restoration, or sustainable management of woodland and trees
• the creation, maintenance or restoration of other sequestering habitats such as salt marsh, intertidal seagrass, intertidal mudflats, and hedgerows
• carbon sequestering practices, such as regenerative agriculture

Guidance for applicants

To score highly against the primary environmental objectives, you must state how you’ve considered these factors, where applicable to the relevant environmental objectives.

Suitability of location

Justify delivering the primary environmental objectives in this location. Interventions should address environmental problems or opportunities. For example, installing Natural Flood Management interventions upstream of an area at risk of flooding.

Scale and contiguity

Justify the scale of interventions. The scale should be appropriate to deliver the objectives. If your project area is not contiguous (connected), explain how gaps will not compromise the environmental objectives.

Natural processes

Explain how the project will work with natural processes to restore the hydrology and geomorphology of the landscape. This should support management and creation of connected habitats at the catchment and sub-catchment scale.

Additionality

Explain how the project will deliver extra benefits - things that might not have happened without it. It is not necessary to predict baseline trends for all environmental objectives to judge your project against. But it is important to justify why the projected environmental gains are because of your project.

Net zero contribution

Explain your project’s likely contribution to net zero climate goals. Complex calculations are not required at the application stage. But if you include contribution estimates, please explain your methodology.

We’ll award points based on likely greenhouse gas savings measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).

As an indication, we estimate that 5 kilotonnes (kt) CO2e per year is roughly equivalent to:

• the carbon mitigation from a successful afforestation project of about 650 hectares (ha)
• a peatland restoration project of about 150ha.

We estimate that 20kt CO2e per year is roughly equivalent to:

• the carbon mitigation from a successful afforestation project of about 2,700ha
• a peatland restoration project of about 570ha

In the first round of Landscape Recovery, we estimated that 5 kilotonnes (kt) and 20kt CO2e per year are roughly equivalent to the carbon mitigation from:

• successful afforestation projects of about 650 hectare (ha) and 2,700ha
• peatland restoration projects of about 150ha and 570ha

You might not make greenhouse gas savings straight away. We’ll assess the likely savings achieved and sustained over the project’s lifetime.

You can use Natural England’s Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Habitat 2021 for designing a carbon sequestration project. Estimate the quantities of relevant habitats in your project area so we can estimate your project’s net zero contribution.

Climate resilience

Landscape Recovery projects should last at least 20 years and be sustainable beyond this. But what is appropriate for the climate in 2023 may not be suitable for the changing climate in future decades.

We do not expect you to predict detailed impacts of climate change. But we do want you to show you’re thinking ahead across the lifetime of your project. Projects that do not consider the impact of climate change may become inappropriate over time. For example, establishing a protected area for recovery of a species whose natural range is shifting away from that area.

We will not progress projects that increase the vulnerability of the surrounding area to risks from climate change.

Heritage

Heritage is an integral part of the restoration, creation and maintenance of our landscapes. This may be through:

• the preservation of heritage assets and features of historic significance
• the conservation and enhancement of culturally significant sites and landscapes

You should show how you’ll consider heritage in your project.

Resources

See the environmental objectives: useful resources for more guidance.

Scoring

We’ll check your answers against both primary environmental objectives.

25 points are available for each objective.

Your project will not progress if:

• you score below 30 (out of a possible 50)
• it has a negative impact on biodiversity or net zero
• it increases local vulnerability to risks from climate change

Table 2: Primary environmental objectives scoring

Assessment against primary environmental objective	Score
Likely to have a negative impact on the objective	Fail
No or little potential to deliver positively against the objective	0
Likely to deliver a moderate positive impact on the objective	10
Likely to deliver a strong positive impact on the objective	20
Likely to deliver a very strong positive impact on the objective	25

Criterion 3: secondary environmental objectives

How will your project deliver against the secondary environmental objectives for this round of Landscape Recovery?

Guidance for applicants

Secondary environmental objectives are other environmental benefits of your project beyond primary objectives. Consider whether your project:

• contributes to the recovery of threatened species in England, for example through bespoke species recovery actions
• manages land at the catchment or sub-catchment scale to reduce diffuse pollution from nutrients, plant protection products, sediment, or other significant pollutants entering springs, streams, groundwater and rivers to improve surface water or groundwater quality
• optimises geomorphological and hydrological functions at the catchment or sub-catchment scale to support the recovery of water-dependent biodiversity and improve resilience to extreme weather events such as flooding, drought and high temperatures
• reduces ammonia concentrations in the air or deposition on sensitive habitats
• reduces levels of particulate matter in the air, particularly near heavily populated areas
• uses landscape character to inform appropriate landscape change and enhancement
• conserves and enhances heritage assets and their surroundings
• increases the resilience of habitats (beyond those in the primary objectives) and species to the effects of climate change, such as flooding, drought, fire, high temperatures and coastal erosion
• reduces the threat of invasive, non-native species to local habitats (not including protected sites or habitats in the primary objectives)
• contributes to improved soil health and protection
• delivers other environmental benefits not listed, for example ones that are specific to the local project area

Scoring

You do not need to deliver all the secondary objectives to score highly but should include all that are relevant to your project.

20 points are available across all the secondary objectives.

Table 3: Secondary environmental objectives scoring

Assessment against secondary environmental objectives	Score
No or little potential to deliver positively against any objectives	0
Likely to deliver a moderate positive impact on one objective	5
Likely to deliver a moderate positive impact on at least 2 objectives	10
Likely to deliver a strong positive impact on 3 or more objectives	20

Criterion 4: social impact

How will you enable, enhance, or maintain physical access, participation, and engagement with your project to deliver positive cultural and social benefits?

Guidance for applicants

You must state how you’ve considered all 3 social impact objectives.

Participation

We’d like to see projects involve members of the public in every stage from scoping and design to implementation. Members of the public may include:

• local residents and businesses
• charities
• community and faith groups
• educational institutions
• public bodies

We’re also interested to hear about jobs and opportunities for skills development that will be created in the local community as a result of the project.

Your public participation plans must consider the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion.

You must show you’ve considered barriers to public participation and the steps taken to address these.

Projects should prioritise the participation of one or more of these groups:

• the local community, especially those on low incomes and from disadvantaged backgrounds
• civil society groups engaged in promoting sustainability and net zero
• children, young people and their families, including young adults looking to enter farming, forestry and other rural industries
• ethnic and religious minorities
• residents of urban areas, especially those with little established access to the countryside
• women
• LGBTIQA+ people
• people with disabilities, impairments and restricted mobility

Physical access

Public access to landscape-scale projects is important. We’d like to see public access for everyone in suitable parts of the project area. You should improve and extend existing public access, where appropriate.

Your plans must be:

• sensitive to ecological and environmental requirements
• appropriate to the current and predicted usage of the site

Plans should also incorporate the principle of ‘least restrictive access’. This means providing the widest available access to the site while conserving its natural heritage.

Reducing existing access to the area will not necessarily result in a fail if it’s appropriate to the project’s environmental outcomes. But you should consider improvements to quality of access or alternative accessible areas.

We recommend you carry out an access audit and assessment using a recognised assessment approach at an early stage. This should cover:

• conservation and landscape impacts to ensure access is integrated with other objectives
• a plan of existing access recording public rights of way, open access areas, permissive access or less formal access
• use and quality of existing access and ways you could improve it for as many users as possible
• current and projected demand including type and number of users and what their needs are
• connectivity - links to existing and neighbouring access and links to and from nearby settlements and facilities
• route and terrain considerations, including gradients and cambers, resting places, and access furniture (accessible gates, benches, bridges)
• maintenance considerations - who maintains existing and new routes, plus planning and budgeting
• monitoring feedback on visitor experiences and access infrastructure

You need to plan any changes to existing public access and consult with the rights of way section at your local authority.

You should also check if the rights of way improvement plans for your area identify targets and improvements to the local access network.

Your Local Access Forum may be able to suggest ideas and plan access provision.

The Sensory Trust’s by all reasonable means also provide useful assessments, audit tools and techniques.

Engagement

You should explain how you will engage communities and individuals in the project’s natural heritage. We want people to benefit from the project.

We’re keen to understand how your proposal will involve people whose needs have not been well-met in your local area.

This may include:

• children
• young people and their families
• women
• people from disadvantaged backgrounds
• ethnic minorities
• the elderly
• people with disabilities or impairments
• carers and guardians

You may consider providing these types of activities:

• information about the project area that meets a wide range of visitor abilities and needs
• physical space for visitors to interact with nature, landscape and heritage
• virtual ways to connect to the project area
• opportunities to learn about nature, the environment, landscape and heritage through citizen science
• volunteer activities to involve visitors in project management, including recruitment from less well-represented groups
• activities that support or celebrate the area’s sense of place and special character
• engaging with universities and research institutions for research, advancing knowledge and sharing learning

We understand that the details you’ll provide will be initial proposals. If you reach the project development phase, there’ll be opportunity to develop these.

Scoring

We’ll score your answer on a sliding scale based on how you show participation, physical access and engagement.

A negative impact on social impact objectives will result in a fail.

Table 4: Social impact scoring

Assessment against social impact	Score
Plans are likely to have a negative impact on participation, access and engagement	Fail
No or little potential to deliver positively against the objectives	0
Likely to deliver a moderate positive impact on one of the social impact objectives	2
Likely to deliver a moderate positive impact on at least 2 social impact objectives	5
Likely to deliver a strong positive impact on all 3 social impact objectives	10

Criterion 5: food production

How have you:

• taken into account the likely impact of your project on food production
• considered your project’s contribution to producing food in an environmentally sustainable way
• mitigated any negative impact where possible

Guidance for applicants

Farming and nature can and must go hand in hand. This was shown in round one of Landscape Recovery, where the selected projects will play a critical role in supporting environmentally sustainable domestic food production.

If your project involves interventions that may reduce food production, you should consider using less productive agricultural land, where possible.

You should also consider whether the project will impact food production outside the project area, positively or negatively.

You must:

• show how much food is being produced each year from the total land in the project area. Use 2020 to 2022 average quantities if you can. Consider annual crop yields, livestock numbers by species and livestock units if possible on the relevant parcels
• explain how implementing the Landscape Recovery project will affect food production in the project area and beyond
• show what steps you plan to take to minimise any negative impact on food production where possible
• show how the project will contribute to environmentally sustainable food production, such as reducing input to production or improving soil health

Scoring

We’ll score this criterion as shown in table 5.

No response or a response that does not indicate that the project has taken steps to minimise negative impacts on food production will result in a fail.

Table 5: Food production scoring

Assessment	Score
No response or a response that gives no confidence that the requirements have been met	Fail
Substantially addresses some of the requirements but not all. Provides supporting information of limited relevance or containing significant weaknesses	3
Addresses most of the requirements with most of the relevant supporting information, but moderate weaknesses remain	5
Addresses all the requirements with all the relevant supporting information	10

Criterion 6: value for money

How much project development funding are you bidding for? How can you show that it represents good value for money?

Guidance for applicants

Use the project development costs form. You must provide a breakdown of all the activities for which you are bidding for funding. This includes work to develop deliverables such as a:

• land management plan
• project management and governance plan
• monitoring and evaluation plan
• stakeholder engagement plan
• site access plan
• business model (see the applicant guidance for more detail)

Include the costs for any cross-cutting activities that you cannot attribute to a specific project development phase deliverable. For example, legal advice, costs for permits and consent, and activity and salary of core project staff.

For each activity, you must:

• explain why it is necessary to complete the project or deliverable
• report the approximate duration of the activity in months - this will be considered as part of the project readiness criterion

For each cost of these activities, you must:

• ensure it is not listed as an ineligible cost in annex 1 of the application guidance
• show the cost is reasonable, realistic, and justified in line with the project development phase payment policy (see annex 1 of the application guidance)
• ensure you can recover all VAT elements relating to your costs if you’re VAT registered - you should state which VAT costs are not recoverable in column F and ensure column G shows the amount of funding you need from the project development grant. If you do not complete this, we’ll assume all VAT costs are recoverable and ineligible for funding

At application stage, acceptable evidence of reasonableness of costs includes:

• day rates and number of days required to carry out activities
• comparisons with similar activities carried out in the same geographical region
• information about extra funding you’ll receive or have received

As context to your bid, please state whether any part of your project activities will be funded by other sources. This is so that we can understand why you do not need funding from Landscape Recovery for this. It could include work:

• funded by your organisation
• funded by a partner organisation or another grant scheme
• delivered through in-kind contributions

If you want to provide supporting evidence, name any files you wish to upload:

• Your_project_name_costs_evidence_1
• Your_project_name_costs_evidence_2, and so on

We’ll assess the project development costs form to decide whether each of your proposed costs is eligible. If your application is successful, your eligible costs will be confirmed during enrolment.

The project development grant can fund up to 100% of eligible costs during the project development phase.

Scoring

We’ll use the project development costs form to give your application a score for this criterion. You can refine the activities in the cost form during the enrolment phase if your application is successful.

We’ll also score your bid based on how the cost compares to other bids.

Table 6 and 7 show how we will score your form. Unreasonable costs or significant unjustified activities will result in a fail.

Table 6: Individual costs scoring

Assessment	Score
A bid can fail on this criterion if you make little meaningful attempt to show that: - costs are reasonable - activities are essential to deliver the project or deliverables This would suggest you lack the necessary engagement with or understanding of ensuring value for money. A bid can also fail if its proposed costs are: - excessive in comparison to other bids - so large that, if we accepted the bid, the budget available to other projects would become too low	Fail
The bid probably represents good value for money on the whole. But one or more of the requirements have not been properly met. This might be if: - the explanation why certain activities are necessary is insufficient or not properly addressed - one or more of the costs associated with necessary activities is ineligible, disproportionate or not adequately shown If you receive this score and pass to the next stage, you must provide clarifying evidence and reduce costs associated with some items.	1
The bid seems to represent good value for money. You have met all the requirements, though in some cases the evidence is not as thorough or convincing as it might be. If you receive this score and pass to the next stage, you must provide clarifying evidence and, if necessary, reduce some of the costs.	3
The bid represents excellent value for money. You have met all requirements thoroughly. The evidence suggests every proposed activity is adding meaningful value and it is likely that it could not be carried out with any less funding. If you pass to the next stage it is unlikely that you’ll need to provide substantial clarifying evidence or significantly adjust the costs.	5

Table 7: Relative costs scoring

Assessment	Score
We’ll award you 1 to 5 points, depending on the ranking of your bid in comparison to others. The most expensive projects will score 1 point and the least expensive will score 5. Projects in between will get 2, 3 or 4 points.	1 to 5