News and communications

Fund of up to £7 million will boost access to nature and support rural communities across England to become more green-fingered

• Updated: 23 March 2024

UK scales up support for sustainable, climate-resilient farming practices, and improved access to clean water in climate-vulnerable countries.

• Updated: 9 December 2023

New grant scheme will bring forward small-scale developments which meet the needs of the community

• Updated: 10 November 2023

100,000 homes and businesses in rural parts of the UK will be further supported to access improved broadband connections.

• Updated: 2 October 2023

Unleashing Rural Opportunity document launched

• Updated: 6 June 2023

£110 million funding for communities allocated under the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

• Updated: 7 April 2023

£3 million capital fund opens for applications. Village halls in England will now be able to apply for grants to renovate vital community assets

• Updated: 20 December 2022

Tougher sentencing and improved powers introduced under the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 to tackle the cruel practice of chasing hares with dogs

• Updated: 1 August 2022

New £3 million fund will support village hall improvement projects for over 100 village halls

• Updated: 28 May 2022

The UK at pre-COP in Milan: a busy programme of events on climate and sustainability

• Updated: 27 September 2021

A pioneering new fund to drive private investment in nature and tackle climate change has been awarded to 27 projects

• Updated: 14 July 2021

Greener building and conserving wildlife goes hand in hand in the North East as a new approach to sustainable development is launched.

• Updated: 17 March 2021

Rural businesses encouraged to apply for a share of £50 million grant scheme

• Updated: 5 February 2020

Grants of up to £750,000 available to rural firms to boost productivity and create local jobs

• Updated: 1 November 2019

A pioneering project looking into whether temporarily flooding agricultural land around the Humber could benefit farmers and wildlife is appealing for land.

• Updated: 23 May 2019

Funding will support around a hundred local building projects to help rural communities better connect.

• Updated: 5 April 2019

Andrew Sells welcomed efforts by the shooting community to safeguard and conserve hundreds of hectares of land for wildlife, but said there is still more to do.

• Updated: 27 July 2018

National Parks Minister backs new agreement to create new woodland, protecting wildlife and connecting people with nature.

• Updated: 25 July 2018

Water rescue charities in Wales have been awarded almost £70,000 in funding for vital rescue equipment to help keep the UK’s rivers and seas safe.

• Updated: 7 November 2017

Grants expected to generate more than 6,000 new jobs overall and support growth of rural businesses and broadband projects.

• Updated: 29 July 2017