Print
Nature of Farming Award
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.
Entry closed
Entry is now closed for 2012, and we are pleased to announce that this year we have had more entries than ever before. Our Farm Advisors now have the mammoth task of carefully assessing all the applications. In July we will announce the Regional Winners for 2012 and those that deserve a special mention with a Highly Commended award.
If you missed the application date for this year, you can still complete the application form (on the right) now, and we will hold your details until next year.
2011 champions
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 2011's other 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.
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.