Pumlumon Project

Imagine a landscape where people and businesses thrive in harmony with nature…

A way that gives us more of the things we need - viable local economies with successful farms, beautiful landscapes, abundant wildlife, clean water, carbon storage; and less of the things we don't - urban flooding, species decline, soil erosion, faltering rural businesses.

Established in 2007, the Pumlumon Project is a radical rethink of how the landscapes of upland Britain could work. Across 40,000 hectares of the Cambrian Mountains, we're pioneering an upland economy built around farming that benefits from wildlife, ecology and long-term sustainability.

Our method is simple: if we can help local farmers, foresters and tourism businesses work with, and benefit from, healthy natural systems, then over time the whole landscape comes back to life. And once that happens, the benefits extend far outside the project area.

Our project has demonstrated, using good science and economic analysis, how ecological restoration can bring economic, social and environmental benefits. We have also shown, together with our farm partners, that practical changes, with gains for farm businesses and ecology, can be delivered.

Practical delivery is relatively straight-forward, and society’s priorities have shifted to appreciate the importance of supporting healthy natural systems. What’s missing is the funding to support this shift, and structures needed to deliver this funding.

Named after Pumlumon mountain (centre), our 40,000 hectare project area is the size of Birmingham and includes the sources of the rivers Severn, Wye and Rheidol.

Over the last 18 years we've worked with dozens of farms in this landscape to make ecological improvements that contribute to farm businesses. We have built positive relationships with farming communities and shown that positive results for farms and wildlife can be easily delivered, which have wider benefits for society, like carbon sequestration and water quality improvements. 

Our ambition is to extend this model of farm embedded ecological land management across the entire project area. Success would reduce the effects of flooding on huge numbers of farms, homes and businesses, transform the local economy, support farm businesses, safeguard and build vast stores of carbon, and bring back vanished wildlife.