More than £17 million has been earmarked to protect some of the most famous UK landscapes, including The White Cliffs of Dover in Kent, the Heritage Lottery Fund announced.
The funding was set aside for 10 different countryside areas to help them conserve their distinctive character, protecting grasslands, sand dunes, moorlands, wetlands and wildlife.
The work will involve local communities in schemes such as surveying species and archaeological digs and teach people traditional skills including dry stone walling, beekeeping and hedge-laying.
Funding of £1,602,200 has been earmarked for the White Cliffs of Dover for protecting the landscape, removing scrub and maintaining grassland, as well as conservation work on built heritage such as the Western Heights and World War II remnants. A programme of activities will include themed talks and guided walks, and an education centre will be built at Samphire Hoe.
The Belfast Hills, the wetlands of the Avalon Marshes to the west of Glastonbury and landscapes shaped by mediaeval monks and Anglo-Saxon farming are among the rural areas to benefit from the cash. The Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which inspired CS Lewis's vision of Narnia is also set to receive funding.
Dame Jenny Abramsky, chairwoman of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: "Landscapes play a huge role in our lives and are often the backdrop to daily routines - but we mustn't take them for granted.
"This significant investment by the Heritage Lottery Fund is important, particularly in the International Year of Biodiversity, because it not only encourages people to work together effectively but gives them a greater sense of involvement and connection to their own local landscape."
Between £1 million and £2 million has been earmarked for each of the schemes, which must now submit a further, fully-developed application to secure the award.
The other landscapes for which funding was earmarked are: Tees Vale and Barnard Castle, Tees Valley; Belfast Hills, Northern Ireland; Druridge Bay, Northumberland; Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, County Down; Staffordshire moorlands; Meres and Mosses, stretching from Shropshire to Cheshire; Clyde and Avon Valley, Scotland; Avalon Marshes, Glastonbury; and the Solway Wetlands, Cumbria.