FAQ

• What is Landscapes Enterprise Networks (LENs)?
  • Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) is a system for organising the buying and selling of ecosystem-service outcomes such as water quality improvement, flood risk management, resilient supply of ingredients, carbon reduction in supply chains, carbon sequestration or biodiversity. The parties who seek and co-fund the delivery of these ecosystem-service outcomes are called ‘demand’ side organisations.
  • Outcomes are delivered through the implementation of land management measures. Typically, it is farmers and land managers (the ‘supply’ side) who can implement these measures and deliver the outcomes sought by the demand side.
  • LENs has been active in the England since 2018, with the East of England and Yorkshire being a focus for LENs due to the importance of crop production in these regions.
• Why should I get involved?
  • LENs provides an opportunity for farmers and land managers to receive funding to implement and maintain sustainable agriculture measures benefiting biodiversity, water quality, soil health and carbon emissions reductions on farm. As well as monetary support, LENs provides farmers with access to implementation advice, knowledge sharing events, training opportunities and data showcasing progress on a variety of metrics.
• How long could I be in LENs for?
  • LENs operates on an annual cycle, meaning each year there is an opportunity to apply for measures. Farmers typically enter an agreement lasting 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 years at a time, this depends on the measures you wish to implement.
• What forms of funding are available to my farm?
  • LENs pays for measures in two different ways, this is agreed and contracted up front:
    1. Funding can be agreed on a measure by measure basis, ie, £28 per ha for pesticide reduction approaches. This is contracted ahead of the measure being implemented. Once the measure has been completed, the farmer is required to provide evidence that this measure has been implemented correctly (invoice and photo). Upon recieving this evidence, the farmer's supply aggregator will release the agreed funding.
    2. Funding can also be agreed as a Resilience Payment per ha of a particular crop produced, ie, £100 per ha of wheat. This is only available to farms under the 'Leading' or 'Advanced' tiers of the Regen Ag Pathway. In this instance, the farmer is required to manage the land in a way that delivers the agreed outcomes. LENs will release payment to the farmer after MRV is complete.
• What is the new Resilience Payment and how does it work?
  • The LENs Resilience Payment is a new addition to LENs for Trade 2025. This allows farmers who reach the 'Advanced' and 'Leading' levels of the Regen Pathway to receive a fixed payment per ha of a specific crop they produce. The Resilience Payment enables farmers already doing many of these practices to be rewarded and supports the maintenance of their level of sustainable agriculture. Farmers are also encouraged to apply for SFI funding for any activities that contribute to the Regen Pathway criteria when recieving the Resilience Payment. Post harvest and MRV in summer 2025, if all criteria have been met, the farmer will recieve the payment.
• What is innovation funding and how does it differ to the other measures?
  • Alongside applying for predefined measures, LENs and demand partners permit farms to apply for innovative practices, tailored to their farming systems that deliver the outcomes sought by funders. Innovation Measures provide farmers with greater flexibility in contract terms, measure design, and implementation, ensuring that solutions can be adapted around their farm. Applicants submit separate more-detailed proposals, also through NatureBid, for these measures. For information regarding the specific types of innovation items sought by funders relevant to your farm contact your Supply Aggregator. For more information about innovation measures including examples and proposal tips, consult the Technical Guidance.
• What are year 1 and on going costs?
  • Year 1 costs are the cost of putting a measure in place initially (including the first year’s upkeep). On going refers to the costs to maintain that measure effective throughout its agreed term. Depending on the measure, this could mean regular upkeep tasks (like maintaining newly planted woodland) or performing the measure every year (like reduced cultivation each year of a multi-year contract). Applicants should provide both an initial Year 1 Cost and a single combined On going figure covering the full contract term. Consult the Technical Guidance for more information.
• Am I guaranteed LENs funding if I apply?
  • LENs develops a market and trading opportunities for ecosystem services, therefore funding is not guaranteed. The success of your application is determined by the amount of funding available in your region, how well you propose to meet the demand side's outcomes of interest and the value for money you plan to deliver. All applications will be considered and successful applicants should expect formal contracts by the spring time.
• What is MRV and what happens to my data?
  • MRV stands for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification. It is a requirement of all LENs farmers to undergo an annual data collection for a defined set of metrics with Adas. This data is then aggregated to share with funding partners for company reporting, and individual results are shared with farmers. You can access the LENs data privacy policy in the 'Information Guides' page, key points include:
    • Only collect data necessary to the delivery of the trade agreement
    • Data is not shared with demand partners on an personal/individual farm level
    • Data is shared with third parties for the purposes of creating, monitoring and executing LENs agreement
    • Data is not shared with anyone who is not working on LENs
    • By entering LENs you consent to demand partners receiving socio- environmental data
    • You cannot also enter into carbon/nature credit on the field/land where you carry out LENs practices
• Where can I find more information about LENs?
  • Please go to the Information Guides page, you will find:
    1. The LENs Technical Guidance containing details on the LENs process, eligibility, applicant responsibilities, agreements, measures available and implementation requirements.
    2. The NatureBid guide, showing how to use the NatureBid platform to apply for LENs
    3. The LENs data privacy policy explains how you data will be shared and used by LENs and demand parties
    4. The Farm Application Tool available for download
• Who can I contact if I have a problem?
  • First speak to your supply aggregator, they will be able to answer most of your queries and support you throughout the application, implementation and reporting phases of LENs.
  • If you would like to speak to a LENs representative please contact:
    • East of England - George Hayes at george.hayes@3keel.com
    • Yorkshire - Rebecca Thompson at rebecca.thompson@3keel.com