Landscape Regeneration

Devon is renowned for its picturesque landscape of rolling hills, wooded valleys, rugged moorland and hedgerow-fringed fields.

Agricultural activity dominates Devon’s rural landscape. The county has four times more farming than the national average, however in recent decades, conventional agricultural practices have inadvertently contributed to the decimation of wildlife habitats.

Many of Devon’s trees, hedgerows, meadows, and wetlands have made way for large fields of ‘green concrete’ to accommodate mechanical and chemical farming, and intensive monoculture and grazing. This has resulted in degraded soil, increased run-off, flooding, and sharp declines in wildlife biodiversity.

The DEF supports projects that seek to conserve and restore Devon’s diverse natural habitats – via initiatives such as regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, rewilding, tree planting, meadow restoration, peatland conservation and restoration, eco tourism, wildlife safaris, and much more.

We particularly welcome projects that aim to share learnings and best practice to replicate their successes and scale their positive impact to other areas, to maximise the benefits to nature.