NatureBid – River Lyd catchment

We are launching an online auction to offer grant funding to Devon-based farmers and landowners today, Monday 2 December.

Several options to help protect water quality through positive changes in land management will be available for bidding in the next three weeks via the Environment Agency’s NatureBid scheme.

The auction covers the whole of the River Lyd catchment and is part of the Channel Payments for Ecosystem Services (CPES) Interreg EU-funded project.

This project investigates opportunities to develop investment into river catchments for environmental benefit – known as Payments for Ecosystem Services.

The funds for this auction have been made available via a group of local organisations who have formed a Water Stewardship Business Board. This board contributes to improving the longer-term resilience of river catchments and has direct or indirect interests in the local area due to their supply chains.

The CPES project has also established an online fund where further donation from interested companies or individuals can be made, supporting greater spend locally as a result.

Grants can be made via the Lyd auction to support positive environmental improvement such as woodland planting, aeration or sub-soiling of grassland, cover crops for arable areas, watercourse fencing, field buffer strips, installing ponds or wetland features.

These options all contribute to improving water quality, but also deliver benefits for soil management, habitat provision, Carbon sequestration or flood mitigation – bringing greater value from each investment. The auction will be paused and reviewed before one more (potential) week of application is implemented in the New Year, with funding offers issued in early January.

There has been interest in using different funding and engagement  mechanisms and the Trust has adopted this auction approach to trial interest, assess practicality and gather feedback from farmers as to its suitability.

How to bid 

Visit tamar.naturebid.org.uk to register and apply from Monday 2 December. This auction will pause on Friday 20 December for an initial review, and will reopen Monday 6 January to Friday 10 January before final decisions and closure.

Contact Anthony or Dave from WRT’s Land Team on 01579 372140 for further help or support.