Agri-environment schemes in England

Environmentally Sensitive Areas and the Countryside Stewardship Scheme have been providing financial support for the conservation management of English Countryside since 1987 and 1991 respectively. They have now both been superseded by the Environmental Stewardship Scheme introduced in March 2005 with its Entry Level and Higher Level tiers.

Un-cropped cultivated margin
©Simon Williams

Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) and Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS)

ELS is a ‘whole farm scheme’ open to all farmers and land managers. Acceptance will be guaranteed providing scheme requirements are met. The aim of the scheme is to encourage large numbers of farmers and land managers across England to deliver simple yet effective environmental management that goes beyond the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) requirements to maintain land in Good agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC).

In order to qualify for your £30 per hectare under ELS and £60 per hectare under OELS you are required to gain 30 points per hectare by selecting different options. The options detailed below that would benefit arable plants all have relatively high scores attached e.g. the equivalent of 1ha of uncropped cultivated margin would be over 1800 metres of double sided hedge management.

• EF11 6m uncropped cultivated margins on arable land (400 points per hectare)
• EF9 Conservation headlands in cereal fields (100 points per hectare)
• EF10 Conservation headlands in cereal fields with no fertiliser or manure (330 points per hectare)
• EF6 Over-wintered stubbles (120 points per hectare)
• EG4 Cereals for whole crop silage followed by over-wintered stubbles (230 points per hectare)

Higher Level Stewardship (HLS)

HLS is combined with ELS or OELS options, it is discretionary and concentrates on the more complex types of management where land managers need advice and support and where agreements need to be tailored to local circumstances (DEFRA).

HLS is much more targeted to provide significant environmental benefits in high priority situations. Arable options should only really be considered where a farmer can provide evidence that the proposal will benefit either:

• A Species mentioned in the regional target statements, or
• A Specific rare arable plant species that is not directly identified on the target statements but is identified by the RDS as important

The Important Arable Plant Areas (IAPA) will help identify high priority arable areas, which will benefit greatly from the HLS arable options.

The options under HLS that will benefit arable plants are as follow:

• HF20 Cultivated fallow pots or margins for arable flora (£440 per hectare)
• HF16 Cultivated fallow plots or margins for arable flora as an enhanced set-aside option (£80 per hectare)
• HF14 Un-harvested, fertiliser-free conservation headlands (£440 per hectare)
• HF19 Un-harvested, fertiliser-free conservation headlands preceding enhanced set-aside (£400 per hectare)
• HF15 Reduced herbicide, cereal crop managment preceding over-wintered stubble and a spring crop (£195 per hectare)
• HG7 Low input spring cereal to retain or re-create an arable mosaic (£250 per hectare)
• HF18 Reduced herbicide, cereal crop managment preceding enhanced set-aside (£140 per hectare)
• HG6 Fodder crop management to retain or re-create an arable mosaic (£150 per hectare)

Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS)

Countryside Stewardship was introduced as a pilot scheme in England in 1991 by the then Countryside Commission and operates outside the Environmentally Sensitive Areas. Payments are made to farmers and other land managers to enhance and conserve English landscapes, their wildlife and history and to help people to enjoy them.

A key part of the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP), a total of £500 million has been allocated to the scheme over the period 2000 to 2006. Since 2000, all ERDP targets for the scheme have been met, including the introduction of an additional 525,000 hectares of land to the scheme in advance of the target date of 2007. With nearly 17,000 agreement holders, over 44,500 miles of grass margins have been established, over 17,500 miles of hedgerows and over 1,300 miles of dry-stone walls restored, and previously declining numbers in farmland bird species have increased.

On 3 March 2005, Defra launched the new scheme, which will continue and build on the recognised successes already achieved by Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) Schemes. Therefore CS is now closed to new applicants. However, existing agreements will continue until their expiry date.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme (ESA)

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme was introduced in 1987 to offer incentives to encourage farmers to adopt agricultural practices, which would safeguard and enhance parts of the country of particularly high landscape, wildlife or historic value.

The ESAs scheme aims to maintain and often to enhance the conservation, landscape and historical value of the key environmental features of an area, and, where possible, improve public access to these areas.

Farmer managed ESAs include some of our most important landscapes - upland: wetland; moor; coastal marsh; river valleys, which offer protection for some of our rarest plants (orchids, cornflower) and establish a suitable environment for the recovery of native species (brown hare, otter, water vole).

In signing up to a 10 year management agreement with the Department, farmers receive an annual payment on each hectare of land entered into the scheme. (A five year termination clause is available to the agreement holder and the Department).

Resulting environmental benefits have included:-

• improved numbers of wading birds in lowland wet grassland;
• protection and improvement of species rich grassland on the chalkdowns and in hay meadows;
• landscape improvements from better management of features such as hedges and dry stone walls and from conversion of arable to grassland;
• protection of historic features, such as ancient field systems.

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme is now closed to new applicants. Defra introduced a new Environmental Stewardship Scheme on 3 March 2005 which supersedes (with enhancements) the Environmentally Sensitive Areas and Countryside Stewardship Schemes.