Land Management Plan
What will change on the ground over twenty years — and what will stay the same.
Last updated: 22 April 2026
The Land Management Plan describes the practical changes each participating landowner will make on their land over the twenty years of the agreement — what gets planted, what gets restored, what gets left alone, and what keeps producing food and livestock.
This page describes the plan. The plan itself is a working document held by the consortium. When the plan is complete, you will be able to download it from this page.
What the plan will contain
When complete, the Land Management Plan will set out, for each parcel of land in the scheme:
- The current state of the land
- The land-use changes planned, with locations and timings
- The expected environmental outcomes — for water, carbon, biodiversity, soil, and landscape
- How existing agricultural activity will continue alongside the restoration work
- The monitoring arrangements for verifying that planned changes have been made
Who contributes to this plan
The Land Management Plan is authored by the consortium of eighteen landowners and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, with input from Natural England and relevant independent ecologists. DEFRA reviews it as part of the implementation agreement application.
What happens once the plan is complete
Once signed off, the plan is submitted to DEFRA along with the other five plans. This page’s banner will flip to “Decision reached”, with a link to an explainer of what was agreed and — when available — a PDF download of the finalised plan.