SusThame – Agroecology & Sustainable Farming
Project Summary
The SusThame is a three-year, sustainable agriculture project being delivered by the River Thame Conservation Trust, working with the Thame Catchment Farmer Cluster. Alongside promoting water and wildlife friendly farming, and enhancing the resilience of food production and the natural environment, SusThame seeks to secure further investment for nature-based solutions such as natural flood management, water stewardship credits, and carbon sequestration.
Outcomes
- Increase in nature and healthy ecosystems on farms
- Increased uptake of water and nature friendly farming practices
- A better understanding of the current and potential natural capital assets on farms and a comprehensive view of the environmental impacts of farming
- More business opportunities for investors in nature, leading to increased local investment
- Shorter and more visible supply chains for food produced locally around sustainable farming principles, with more business opportunities for local food growers
- Greater knowledge, awareness and mutual support between local people and farming communities
Other information
Organisation
River Thame Conservation Trust.
ROI
4-10% pa for 30 years.
Investment Sought
Debt/ equity/ bonds. Direct investment, co-investment, pooled investment would all be considered, and a blended finance approach would be preferable combining government agri-environment payments alongside private investment.
BNG
The Susthame project will provide part of the resources to enable BNG potential to be assessed. The next stages of BNG development (legal agreements, capital works, ongoing management and monitoring of the habitat to attain required uplift) require financing, to be secured by the landowner, then repaid once BNG units are sold on the market. It’s this component of financing that may act as a bottleneck to BNG projects being progressed, that is now sought – probably in the form of debt finance. (Note – this point applies to all similar nature-based solutions seeking payment for ecosystem services progressed through the SusThame project.)
Land Ownership
Land is typically privately owned, by the farmer. Any decision to pursue BNG or any other nature-based solution would be entirely at the landowners discretion. However, the participation of the landowner in the Thame Catchment Farm Cluster, and in-turn the SusThame project, indicates a level of receptiveness to innovative and environmentally focused land management options. Participants should be seen as the best opportunity for delivering net zero, nature recovery and other environmental imperatives within the land-use sector.
Supporting Information
External capacity for next phases and permissions are needed. This will cover approximately 5% of the hectarage across 18 farms (192 of 3838ha), largely watersides, hedges and scrub.