Wyescapes Landscape Recovery Plans Submitted!

We are very pleased to confirm that our Wyescapes Landscape Recovery plans have now been formally submitted to Defra. This is a huge moment for our project, after almost two years of detailed development phase work.  

So many people have contributed their time, energy and expertise to help build strong, ambitious, long-term plans across 49 landholdings along the Wye and Lugg. Our plans aim to restore habitats, recover nature, naturally reduce flood and drought impacts and improve river health - all while supporting sustainable food production on viable, climate-resilient farms.

Our considerable thanks go to:

The 49 land managers for the time, effort and careful thought they have invested in developing detailed plans to create more nature-rich habitats, protect soils, support river-recovery, enhance access, and produce food in more climate-resilient ways.

Our partners - including Herefordshire Rural Hub,  Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, Herefordshire Meadows, and The Wye and Usk Foundation, and the independent consultants, who have helped us gather data and provided expert guidance to shape ambitious plans.

Everyone who engaged with our development phase by:

• volunteering to help with habitat and species surveys
• sharing local knowledge, ideas and perspectives
• meeting with us to discuss potential collaborations
• highlighting the project to wider audiences
• showing interest and enthusiasm as we developed our plans

Our final submission covers 5012 hectares of land with active project interventions planned
– equivalent to 12,385 acres or 50 km².

To help visualise this, it’s roughly:

• 2.5 times the size of Hereford city
• 4 times the open-access area of the Malvern Hills
• 100 times the size of Queenswood Country Park

As well as having this geographic scale to our plans, we are taking a very long-term approach. The project is proposed to last 30 years, but the Wyescapes legacy should last for generations.

Coordinated action at this scale represents a huge opportunity to create a healthy, vibrant future for the river corridors of the Wye and Lugg. Highlights of the landscape recovery opportunities are shown in the infographic below.

If this infographic doesn't display properly for you, or if you would like to view an accessible version, please CLICK HERE.

What's Next?

Delivering such an enormous body of work—118 documents and spreadsheets, together with hundreds of mapping files—feels like crossing the finish line. But in reality, it is just the beginning of the next step towards landscape recovery implementation. Defra will now review our plans for rigorous assurance purposes. Once this is complete, formal negotiations on an implementation agreement can begin. A definite outcome is not expected until the end of the summer, at the earliest.

In the meantime, we hope you will join us in celebrating the collaborative efforts of so many people to develop plans with the potential to deliver such important benefits!

How would Wyescapes be delivered?

The project will be managed through a Wyescapes Community Interest Company (CIC), limited by guarantee, with all participating land managers joining as guarantor members.

Strategic direction will be provided by the Project Board, with input from an Advisory Steering Committee representing stakeholders in the environmental sector, local community, and business.

A small project team will work alongside land managers, farmers, local partners, contractors, and volunteers, to deliver outcomes across: land management. monitoring and evaluation, public access projects, and public engagement.

Funding:
Alongside public funding, we are exploring private investment through the sale of:

• Woodland carbon credits

• Nutrient reduction credits

• Biodiversity Net Gain (for developers and voluntary private markets)

• ‘Volumetric Water Benefits’ that convey the value of increasing water storage on farmland

Other News from along the river

• Friends of the River Wye started 2026 by celebrating the efforts of citizen scientists across the Wye catchment, who have now collected and tested over 50,000 water samples!
  
  Anglers with the Wye Salmon Association took the first citizen science tests in the Wye catchment, inspiring a wider movement to develop. Since 2021, Friends of the River Wye and CPRE Herefordshire have also had armies of trained volunteers contributing to the project with over 500 volunteers involved in this effort since 2020.
  
  All data collected by the different groups is available to view on the data platform: WyeViz. Read more: Wye Citizen Scientists surpass 50,000 samples — Friends of the River Wye

• Ellie Chowns MP, visits Wharton Court Farm
  On 14th February as part of her Valentine's Day mission to show 'Love for the Lugg' Ellie visited sites along the Lugg meeting local businesses, volunteers, farmers, and citizen scientists including Wyescape's Land Manager, and member of our board, Nick Helme at Wharton Court - as pictured below.
  
  Ellie continues to advocate for practical support that helps farmers transition to more river-friendly methods. She has shown her support by mentioning the Wyescapes project a number of times when speaking in the House of Commons.

Wyescapes Ecosystem Services

Wyescapes is developing a range of natural capital products from carbon and nutrient reduction credits to biodiversity uplift, as well as offering other nature-based solutions and unique ESG opportunities for an iconic landscape.

If your organisation is interested in partnering with Wyescapes or learning more about our ecosystem services offer, please get in touch to register your interest.

The Wyescapes project team

Please find below contact details for the project team at Herefordshire Rural Hub.

Kate Speke-Adams -
Hub Managing Director

director@herefordshireruralhub.co.uk

Jennie Hermolle -
Hub Wyescapes Engagement & Communications Manager

jennie@herefordshireruralhub.co.uk