Natural England

Twenty one years old this year, agri-environment schemes were introduced in 1987.

These schemes enhance wildlife, the landscape and historic features and are helping to protect our soil and water reserves. They also provide opportunities for people to enjoy the countryside. They do so whilst working alongside modern farming.

The first scheme was introduced in 1987, with the introduction of the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme, to help conserve and improve the rural environment by encouraging environmentally friendly farming methods. Over half of agricultural land is now in an Environmental Stewardship agreement, with 34,000 agreements covering almost 5 million hectares of land.

History

Five areas were initially designated, eventually increasing to a total of 22 ESAs in some of our best loved areas of countryside including the Pennine Dales, the South Downs, most of our National Parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty such as the Lake District and Dartmoor. In 1991, the Countryside Stewardship Scheme was launched to operate in areas outside ESAs. Both schemes operated 10 year agreements. These schemes closed in 2004 and were replaced by Environmental Stewardship (ES) in 2005, although over 20,000 live ESA/CSS agreements still remain.

The schemes are delivered by Natural England with significant input from partners including the National Farmers Union, Country Land and Business Association, the Wildlife Trust, English Heritage, National Parks, and RSPB.

Achievements

Farmers and land managers participating in agri-environment schemes have achieved a great deal. They have helped to maintain traditional crafts such as dry stone walling and hedge laying, and made a significant contribution to establishing or restoring many important features and improving landscapes:

• More than 30,000km of restored or newly-planted hedgerows
• More than 37,000 hectares of grass margins
• More than 2,600km of dry stone walls

They have also:

• Protected and improved species-rich grassland in chalk downs and hay meadows
• Protected historic features, for example ancient field systems and traditional farm buildings
• Been a major factor in helping our prime wildlife sites to recover
• Improved numbers of wading birds in lowland wet grassland
• Increased numbers of some farmland bird species e.g. stone curlew, grey partridge and, especially, the cirl bunting, skylark and other threatened species such as bittern and corn bunting.
• Provided over 1000 permissive access sites and supported 200 farms providing educational facilities for schools
• They have also provided significant spin-off for the local economy in some remote areas.

The Greater Horseshoe Bat

Over the last 15 years farmers have helped the Greater Horseshoe Bat by adopting bat-friendly managing practices (often with the support of schemes). In this time bat numbers have doubled. Greater Horseshoe Bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) are one of our rarest bats and protected by the Habitats & Species Directive. They also occur on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan list. In England Greater Horseshoe Bats are confined to the South West where the occur in pastoral landscapes dominated by small woodlands, grazed pasture and large hedges.

A farmer’s perspective

Between now and 2013 the Government is spending £2.9 billion on agri-environment schemes. Currently 5.2 million hectares of agricultural land is covered by one of the schemes.

Farmer Andy Bradford is passionate about his surroundings. “I’ve always believed that farmers have been environmentalists since the year dot,” he said, “but only now is that being recognised and made more possible by financial support. Think about it, if it were left to Mother Nature, the whole countryside would be completely overgrown,” he said.

Andy lives at Brimpts Farm in the heart of Dartmoor National Park, an area described as being ‘Environmentally Sensitive’. He has been involved in various agri-envionment schemes for the last 12 years. The guidance and financial support he’s had has led to a dramatic transformation of his farm.

“The scheme has allowed us to reduce stocking rates and improve the visual impact of the landscape at the same time” he explains. “We’ve restored hedges, planted 6,000 broad-leaved trees, renovated old stone buildings and rebuilt granite walls. The added benefit is that we’ve now diversified into sustainable tourism, offering educational visits for schools, farm walks, and B&B”, he said.

Review of agri-environment schemes