‘B’ is for Biodiversity

You may have been reading about the new Countryside Stewardship which is replacing the Environmental Stewardship, the English Woodland Grant Scheme and capital grants from the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) delivered by Natural England, the English Woodland Grant Scheme Environmental Stewardship, the Forestry Commission and the Rural programme.

The scheme will be delivered by Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Rural Payments Agency.

The Government now requires you to apply for Countryside Stewardship schemes online.

The main priority for Countryside Stewardship is biodiversity and will help to improve:

• Flood management
• The historic environment
• Landscape character
• Genetic conservation
• Educational access
• Climate change adaptation and mitigation

The scheme will be available to all eligible farmers, land managers, land owners and tenants in England. You will be able to start applying from July 2015 with agreements and payments beginning in 2016.

It will be more targeted and focused than previous schemes. Together with ongoing ES and EWGS agreements, Countryside Stewardship will be the main way of helping farmers and land managers deliver against a wide range of local, national and international environmental commitments.

The new scheme will help:

•  Wildlife and nature: by restoring habitats, protecting hedges, providing food and nesting resources for birds, insects and other animals, and creating farmed areas for rare flowering plants.
• Pollinators: by providing pollen and nectar sources and nesting places. Farmers will be able to provide the right resources for pollinators where they are most needed. Forestry: by funding the planting of new trees and supporting the management of woodlands.
• Water/flooding – making water cleaner and reducing risk of flooding by supporting changes to farming practice (such as crop management), improving farm infrastructure and creating woodland. Where possible, the scheme will offer the best opportunities to achieve benefits for biodiversity, water quality and flood management together. Countryside Stewardship will have 3 main elements which will give access to funding and/or capital grants for an agreed range of environmental management actions (‘options’):
• Higher Tier (similar to the current Higher Level Stewardship)
• The Higher Tier is for the most environmentally important sites and woodlands. These will usually be in places that need complex management (such as habitat restoration, woodland creation or tailored measures for priority species).
• Mid-Tier (which will replace Entry Level Stewardship) The Mid-Tier aims to address widespread environmental issues, such as reducing diffuse water pollution or improving the farmed environment for farmland birds and pollinators.
• A lower tier of capital grants, including the Hedgerows and Boundaries Capital Grants The aim is for you to be able to apply for Higher Tier and Mid-Tier agreements between July and September 2015. These agreements would start on 1 January 2016 and payments would also begin in 2016. It is also currently planned that some capital grants for water and woodland will be available in 2015. Most applications will be scored to check whether an agreement can be offered.

Successful applicants will get an agreement that will include:

• What they have agreed to do (management options)
• The payment rate
• The duration
• Terms and conditions

Most multi-year agreements will be for five years. Longer agreements may be available in some exceptional circumstances.

If you are thinking of applying for the new scheme please do not hesitate to contact the Rural Department for further advice on 01509 243720 or propertyprofessionals@andrewgranger.co.uk .