Ruralscapes started life in 1999 as the Severn Vyrnwy Project which was part of The Countryside Agency Land Management Initiative. More information about this Initiative can be found at this link; here.

The Severn Vyrnwy LMI worked with representatives from local farming, tourism, canal and wildlife interests to identify sustainable land management solutions for the area. It demonstrated that good environmental stewardship is compatible with modern farming: conserving and enhancing existing natural and historic features and developing business links between the farming community and wider local community.

The area:
The Severn Vyrnwy LMI project area covered 15,000 ha between Oswestry and Shrewsbury in the north Shropshire Marches. The project area is largely low-lying and wet in character incorporating the regularly inundated floodplain of the rivers Severn and Vyrnwy and the Montgomery Canal. Farming is predominantly livestock and mixed, on small and medium-sized family farms with land cover roughly half grassland and half arable.

The main issues affecting the area and its agriculture were:

• Small farm size and the collapse of farm incomes, particularly in the dairy sector;
• Flood storage in the flood plain in the context of down-stream flooding and climate change;
• Drainage systems were falling into disrepair;
• A rapid decline in the numbers of wading birds and other wildfowl over the previous 40 years;
• Changing public demands on farming and a rapidly changing rural economy. 

Key outcomes:

• Farm Focus continued with Environment Agency funding to undertake catchment sensitive work.
• Local to Oswestry was created which has now evolved into LocalFeast
• Shropshire Canal Tourism project created a collaborative marketing group called Canal Connections see http://www.canalconnections.co.uk

For further information:
Download the Severn-Vyrnwy Land Management Initiative document or contact: Tim Ashley on 01691 690707