Natural England

Many hedgerows in the South West are flowering now for the first time in many years. Spectacular displays of snow-white blackthorn flowers cap many hedgerows, transforming the landscape.

Farmers are rewarded by DEFRA and Natural England, through green farming schemes such as Environmental Stewardship, for managing their hedgerows with the environment in mind. This means not cutting them every year as only uncut hedges bloom.

Rob Wolton, from Natural England, says “It is wonderful to see our hedgerows now covered in stunning displays of white flowers because so many farmers have opted into Environmental Stewardship. Not only has the spring landscape become even more beautiful, but the birds can look forward to bountiful berry crops later in the year.

“Blackthorn berries, known as sloes, follow the flowers. So we can look forward to a bumper crop of these big black fruits for the birds this autumn and winter, and to plenty of sloe-gin!”

Shortly, the blackthorn will be followed by May blossom, the name for hawthorn flowers, and once again our hedges will be white, although this time against a backcloth of green leaves rather than bare twigs as now.

Across the South West, over 700,000 hectares are now under Environmental Stewardship agreements, an area twice the size of Cornwall.

This includes over 74,000 kilometres of hedgerows now managed under Environmental Stewardship in the South West

Environmental Stewardship is funded by DEFRA and managed by Natural England. Spending on this and other green farming schemes such as Environmentally Sensitive Areas and the Countryside Stewardship Schemes will total almost £3 billion in the period 2007-2013.

Ends

For further information, images and contact: Paul Wynne, SW Press Office: 07900 608049

Notes for editors

1. Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings.

2. Environmental Stewardship (ES) is one of the Schemes which operate under the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP). The scheme replaced the Countryside Stewardship, Environmentally Sensitive Areas and Organic Farming Schemes, which are now closed to new applicants.

3. Environmental Stewardship was launched on 3 March 2005. It is composed of three tiers:

• Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), a whole farm scheme which aims to encourage farmers and land managers across England to deliver simple but effective environmental management;
• Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS), which is open to farmers who manage all or part of their land organically;
• Higher Level Stewardship (HLS), which, when combined with ELS or OELS options, aims to deliver significant environmental benefits in high priority areas.

4. Environmental Stewardship Scheme Statistics for the SW at end March 2007

SW Region	Entry Level Scheme	Organic Entry Level Scheme	Higher Level Scheme	Organic Higher Level Scheme
Live agreements	6,276	765	241	36
Area under agreement	600,089	95,890	11,267	2,793

Environmental Stewardship now covers 4.2 million hectares, or just over 45 per cent, of English farmland.

For further details please contact:
Paul Wynne (Press Office)
SW Communications Team
Natural England
5th Floor
1 Redcliff Street
Bristol BS1 6NP
Email: paul.wynne@naturalengland.org.uk Telephone: 07900 608 049 fax: 0117 910 2901