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Nature of Farming Award
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2011 winners the Charringtons accept their award from the RSPB's Director of Scotland Stuart Housden (left)
Enter now for 2012
You can enter now for the 2012 competition.
Download the form on the right of this page and enter today for your chance to be the UK's most wildlife-friendly farmer in 2012.
The closing date for this year’s award is 20 April 2012.
The annual RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award celebrates the fantastic work farmers are doing for wildlife - with a top prize of £1,000 for the very best!
We joined forces with The Telegraph, Plantlife and Butterfly Conservation to look for the top farms for wildlife across the UK. The Award is funded by the EU Life+ Programme, safeguarding the future of our farmland birds under the EU Birds Directive.
And the winner is...
The top award for 2011 was scooped by Isle of Mull livestock farmers Somerset and Carolyne Charrington. The couple were crowned UK Nature of Farming Award winners after a close-run public vote.
The Charringtons said: 'We are extremely proud to have been chosen as the winners of the Nature of Farming Award. It's a huge boost to our confidence and proves that what we are doing in terms of farming, conservation and sustainability is working.'
The cream of the crop
Hats off also to the other three fabulous finalists - Robert Law in Hertfordshire, Robert Kynaston in Shropshire, and David White in Wiltshire. Each of them would have been a worthy UK winner, and we congratulate them for getting through to the public vote. Most of all we congratulate them for the work they do every day of the year to help wildlife flourish – not just on their farms, but in inspiring and educating others too.
The standard of entry was impressively high in 2011, and we had eight exceptional regional winners. We also introduced a 'Highly Commended' category for the first time, awarded by our judges to those who are demonstrating excellent conservation management. Enter your farm now for your chance to win in 2012!
Power to the people
Over 22,000 of you showed your support for wildlife-friendly farming in 2011, by voting for your favourite finalist. Every vote cast helps all wildlife-friendly farmers know how much their efforts are appreciated. It also shows government how important wildlife is, and helps us work towards getting a fair deal for green farmers. So don't forget to vote in 2012 too!
One lucky voter also won a luxury weekend for two – Mrs Hinson-Raven from London and her guest will be sampling one of Hallmark's boutique hotels courtesy of The Telegraph. Runners-up won either some luxury hampers donated by Jordans Cereals or some wildlife goodies. They were Mrs Brown in Telford, Miss Fletcher in Chelmsford, Mrs Fuller in Royston, Mr Rich in Nuneaton, and Miss Williams in Rochester.
What can I do?
Visit our online community to see what everyone's talking about and have your say. Read blogs by our staff and volunteers to get a real insight into the RSPB.
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Last modified: 04 January 2012