Environmental Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England which aims to secure widespread environmental benefits. It was formally launched on 18 March 2005, although the first agreements did not start until 1 August 2005.
If Environment Stewardship is taken up across large areas of the countryside it will help to: Improve water quality and reduce soil erosion – by encouraging management which can help to meet these aims; Improve conditions for farmland wildlife – including birds, mammals, butterflies and bees; Maintain and enhance landscape character – by helping to maintain important features such as traditional field boundaries; Protect the historic environment – including archaeological features and artefacts.
The scheme, which replaces the older Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Area schemes, is composed of two levels: the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS) for Organic farms, Upland Entry Level Stewardship (UELS) comprising the lower levels; and the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) for the upper level.
Introduction
Entry Level Stewardship aims to encourage large numbers of farmers and land managers (hereafter referred to as 'applicants') across England to deliver simple yet effective environmental management that goes beyond the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) requirement to maintain land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition.
Payouts are from £30/hectare for Entry Level Stewardship to £60/hectare for Organic ELS, and last either five or ten years. The scheme is non-competitive and payments awarded if the threshold 30 points per hectare is achieved when averaged over the farm.
Applicants are able to choose from a wide range of options (e.g. hedgerow management, low input grassland, buffer strips, management plans and options to protect soils), covering all farming types. Each option will earn 'points' (e.g. 100 points per hectare) towards their points total.
Applications
When applying for ELS, applicants will first have to prepare a simple record of features on their farm called the Farm Environment Record (FER). This is done using the Farm Environment Record map supplied by RDS. When they request their pre-filled application form and maps they are also given a ‘points target’ related to their farm size. There is no minimum holding size for entry into ELS. Applicants have the flexibility to decide how much of each option to have, and where to put them, until they have chosen enough to reach their ‘points target’. They need to mark the location of some of these options on the Options map provided by RDS. If they agree to deliver enough ELS options to meet their points target they will be guaranteed entry into the scheme.
In applying for, and being accepted into, ELS they agree to: a) identify, map and retain their FER features; b) deliver the options selected in their application form in accordance with the management requirements; and c) adhere to all the scheme terms and conditions contained in the ELS handbook, and in particular to follow Good Farming Practice throughout their farm, and to comply with the other additional requirements.
Entry Level Stewardship
Anyone who owns, farms or manages agricultural land can apply to take out an ELS agreement by contacting the appropriate regional office of Natural England by letter or phone. Online applications for ELS are also available.
Applicants for an ELS agreement will receive a scheme handbook in addition to the application pack. The handbook details the options for management that the applicant can choose to apply on their land. Each option carries a points score, either per agreement (for example for completing the mandatory Farm Environment Record (FER)), per hectare (e.g. grassland management), per metre (e.g. hedgerow management) or per feature (e.g. in-field trees). The scheme is non-competitive, so provided the grand total of the points is at least equal to 30 points per hectare averaged over the farm (i.e. for a 100 hectare farm 3000 points are required) then the application will become an agreement. All agreements are paid at a flat rate of £30 per hectare per year, and last 5 years.
The schemes have undergone several revisions since their inception.