FWAG South East Conservation Competitions

FWAG Association Silver Lapwing Award

To win this prestigious and longstanding award, a farm has to demonstrate commitment to the natural environment. The presentation is a showcase event that receives considerable national and local press coverage. As the judges tour the competition finalists, they will be looking for:

• Species and habitat conservation and how they integrate their environmental management in their overall farm business
• Understanding and conserving historic aspects of the farm
• A whole farm approach to conserving natural resources; soil management, the protection of water quality and efficient use of water and energy

FWAG South East Winners

In 2015 Annie Brown, a Sussex Downs farmer, won the FWAG Silver Lapwing Award. Annie had introduced a mixed farming system and has a diverse stewardship agreement including beetle banks, wildflower margins, wild bird seed mixes and supplementary feeding throughout winter. The hard work of the farming team restored corn bunting populations which are now thriving.

Annie said the focus was to create a sustainable family farm that was good for wildlife, for the business and for the many visitors to the Downs. This required a large amount of effort to get it to work commercially and make a space for nature. This was helped by advisors from Natural England and FWAG SE.

FWAG South East LLP
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