A report funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suggested linking financial supports for farm succession to nature restoration actions.

This could entail reduced farming activity and large scale restoration or regeneration efforts, in exchange for up-front payments for landowners.

The recommendation came in a recently released publication from the EPA called 'Optimising Land Use Outcomes: The Role of Private Finance'.

The research, funded by the EPA and carried out by KPMG Sustainable Futures, explores ways in which private financing can fund sustainability-related actions in land use.

The report outlines six "recommendations and considerations".

The fifth of these is summarised as "Explore the role of private finance to support rural succession and transition planning."

The report states that the increasing average age of farmers "underscores the urgent need for effective succession planning".

"Concerns extend to inheritance and the transfer of land within families, as well as the possibility that some will leave farming altogether," it added.

The EPA-funded report said that "there is an opportunity to better align" pre-existing succession planning supports to encourage the transition "to more sustainable land use practices".

"This could include up-front payments for landowners for large-scale restoration or regeneration where reduced farming activity is found to be mutually beneficial," it said.

It also said that an incentive or support system for farmers passing on land to family members that would encourage them to "set aside areas for nature" could be explored.

The report suggests developing private finance schemes, in partnerships with "corporate actors or through blended finance models" that aim to support environmentally sustainable succession planning.

This succession planning would provide for maintaining familial and cultural ties to the land, diversifying income streams, and increasing food system resilience, but would also encourage "a greater stewardship approach to land use practices".

"The state and its agencies can ensure that land use transfers between family members or owners are supported and that the benefits for rural communities and for sustainable land use are realised over the long-term, identifying potential areas for support or injection of private finance where needed," the report said.

'Trusted and neutral intermediaries"

In a separate recommendation, the report also suggests using "trusted and neutral intermediaries" to connect finance to project developers and landowners.

"We recommend exploring different forms, either by expanding the scope and role of existing agencies...or by supporting new or existing non-state actors like farmer co-operatives or locally led grassroots initiative," it said.

"These intermediaries should possess a diverse skill set, including expertise in social, ecological and scientific fields, as well asfinancial services knowledge," the report added.