The goal is essential, yet the hurdles to achieving it remain steep, particularly when it comes to enabling those who manage our landscapes—farmers and land managers—to practically make the transition towards more resilient and biodiversity-rich land use.
The Challenge: Incentivising Change
At its heart, biodiversity restoration hinges on land managers. These individuals—whether tending fields in the UK or managing cattle in Tanzania—hold the keys to creating wildlife corridors, wetlands, healthy soil, restored river systems and agroforestry systems. Yet, for them to make these shifts, two things must happen:
1. Incentives need to be accessible: Transitioning to biodiversity-friendly practices often means forgoing income from traditional farming outputs. A wetland doesn’t pay the bills, neither does a wildlife corridor. If farmers are expected to transition land out of production, land managers NEED financial support that not only offsets these losses but also offers a modest profit to justify the effort to undertake the critical land use change needed if we stand a chance of hitting national and global resilience targets.
2. Funding needs to flow efficiently: Currently, the journey for finance to flow from public or private sector funds to farmers is fraught with inefficiencies. Speaking with the World Bank recently, I learned how Green Bonds and wider public funds meant to support biodiversity are often drained by administrative costs. By the time funds eventually trickle down to land managers, there’s little left to make a meaningful impact let alone profit for the farmers.
These barriers aren’t just slowing progress; they’re stalling it. If we’re serious about global land resilience against the growing climate turbulence and 30 by 30, we need to rethink how we connect resources with action on the ground.
The Digital Infrastructure Gap
For both public and private sectors, the lack of streamlined systems to spatially target finance is a major obstacle to mitigating supply chain or national risk. Governments struggle to deploy funds efficiently, while corporations worry about accountability—ensuring their investments truly deliver results rather than being dismissed as “greenwashing.”
This is where we believe digital infrastructure can provide the missing link. Imagine a system where:
- Farmers are instantly notified of funding opportunities tailored to their land.
- Advisors are just a click away to help them design well-considered fundable projects like buffer strips, shelter belts, agroforestry plots or wetlands.
- The Digital contracts are held and managed centrally by a Governing body, with digital monitoring, reporting and verification allowing transparent auditing of outcomes for both public and private investors in one harmonised system.
At Land App, our vision is to provide this kind of infrastructure—a “Finance Connector” that bridges the gap between intent and action. A tool that connects public and private finance directly to the farmers on the ground. Our platform already enables farmers to map their land, explore funding options, and plan for sustainable land use. Now, with tools like the Agroforestry Designer Toolkit, EWCO or WildEdges tools all available for free for all our users, we’re taking things further, offering practical solutions that empower land managers to implement change at scale at the click of a button.
Agroforestry: A Win-Win-Win Solution
Agroforestry is an excellent example of how biodiversity and productivity can coexist. By integrating some trees into agricultural landscapes, we not only enhance biodiversity but also strengthen ecosystems against climate risks like floods and droughts by improving soils’ ability to hold water and slowing the flow of water through the landscape.
For farmers, it’s a low-cost way to boost the resilience of their land without significantly reducing productivity. For governments and private investors, agroforestry offers “stacked benefits”—improved water management, carbon sequestration, and ecosystem connectivity—all for a relatively small investment, while supporting livestock and crop health.
With our new Agroforestry Designer Toolkit, designing an initial agroforestry plan is as simple as clicking a button. Helping you to access funding opportunities, create plans, and implement changes faster than ever. It’s a practical demonstration of how digital solutions can accelerate land use transformation, delivering real-world results for nature and people.
The Bigger Picture
While tools like the Agroforestry Designer Toolkit are a step forward, they’re just one piece of a much larger puzzle. Whether we’re talking about the UK’s farming budget or global biodiversity goals, the principles remain the same:
1. Efficiency: Governments need to streamline operations, ensuring funds reach those who need them most. In the UK, for example, a more efficient Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) could free up resources to support farmers and nature directly.
2. Accountability: Private sector investors want to see measurable outcomes. By using digital tools to track and audit projects, we can give them confidence that their contributions are making a difference.
3. Scalability: The UK has an opportunity to lead by example, becoming a case study for how nations can balance productivity with biodiversity. If we get it right, our approach could be replicated in countries around the world, from New Zealand to Tanzania.
Nature and National Resilience
Biodiversity isn’t just about saving the planet; it’s about safeguarding our future. Healthy ecosystems—rich in biodiversity—directly correlate with climate resilience and economic stability. From mitigating floods to preventing drought-induced crop failures, nature’s benefits are tangible.
There’s also a financial incentive. Nations investing in biodiversity today can reduce their exposure to climate risks, lowering insurance premiums and bolstering GDP. For every pound spent on nature restoration, we stand to gain much more in economic returns, societal well-being, and national competitiveness.
Moving Forward
At Land App, we’re committed to constantly turning these ideas into action and products you can all use. By building the digital infrastructure needed to connect public and private funding with on-the-ground implementation, we aim to make the transition to sustainable land use as seamless as possible for farmers and land managers. Already, 80% of those who took our recent survey said they use Land App because it’s easy to use and saves them time.
COP16 has highlighted the urgency of biodiversity restoration, and the UK budget has shown the challenges of balancing priorities. “But with the right tools and systems, we can create a future where nature, agriculture, and economies thrive together.”
For the land economy to truly succeed, a collaborative flow of information—both bottom-up and top-down—is essential. We rely on your insights, suggestions, and updates to refine our tools and ensure they meet your needs. By sharing your experiences and ideas, you help us improve your experience and make our platform even more effective in supporting nature recovery. Together, we can create a stronger foundation for sustainable land management. We’d love to hear from you—please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your feedback!
Best Regards,
Tim Hopkin
Founder and CEO, Land App
