A NATIONAL park authority has moved to provide reassurance to farmers taking part in a scheme which could rejuvenate upland agriculture.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has pledged to fund a scheme to pay farmers for work such as improving wildlife habitats, should the Government fail to do so.

This comes in response to fears that farmers would pull out if funding was not available.

A meeting of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority heard it was possible the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) would confirm support for the continuation and extension of the payments by results-based project next month.

However, members voiced concerns the scheme could collapse if farmers pulled out of the scheme because Defra did not agree to the funding before the EU grant for the initiative runs out in September.

An officers’ report stated the pilot project in Wensleydale, in which farmers are paid for work such as improving wildlife habitats, had begun to demonstrate practical ways to “incentivise the production of locally-distinctive, high-quality food in a way that delivers an outstanding range of public benefits”.

The report underlined how the environmental gains achieved by the scheme since its launch early last year, could be lost if the park authority did not guarantee funding.

The officers added that there were likely to be significant difficulties in restarting the scheme if members did not agree to intervene.

Member Ian McPherson told the meeting the scheme had been judged to be “extremely welcome” by both farmers and Defra.

The authority voted to spend up to £57,500 to cover the project’s cost for a further 12 months should Government funding not be given.