When we pick up a newspaper or watch the news, we often see headlines about funding landscapes. Of course, these typically refer to the way the NHS is funded or businesses get access to capital. However, a lot of our work recently has related more to a literal interpretation – funding to tackle landscape-scale challenges like climate change or human activity in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

We are entering the final phase of our evaluation of the Long Forest project. It has been really good to see Keep Wales Tidy and their local partners planting trees to restore ancient hedges or create new connectivity for all kinds of wildlife in their demonstrator areas of Anglesey, North East Wales, Pembrokeshire and Monmouthshire. This collaboration with the Woodland Trust is not just meeting targets now but has done much further to embed enduring legacy in its activities

Elan Links is gathering pace in delivering on its 26 projects. Regardless of whether you can get to Elan, it is worth having a look @ElanLinks. We particularly like Throwback Thursday when pictures from the archives hit social media. We never get bored at looked at pictures of the Elan Valley. If you get a chance to visit, do go.

The most recent landscape-scale programme that we are about to start evaluating is Our Picturesque Landscape. It is certainly aptly named, taking in the the Clwydian Range and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site. There’s plenty going on to keep us busy but hopefully not too busy that we’ll forget to pause and admire this breath-taking scenery. We really are fortunate to be able to see so many beautiful places as part of our working lives.