Environmental Stewardship.

Environmental Stewardship:

This refers to the responsibility UK farmers have towards the environment. Environmental

Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme that provides funding to farmers and other land

Managers in England who deliver effective environmental management on their land.

The primary objectives of Environmental Stewardship are to:

•        Conserve wildlife (biodiversity)
• ·         Maintain and enhance landscape quality and character
• ·         Protect the historic environment and natural resources
• ·         Promote public access and understanding of the countryside
• ·         Protect natural resources.

There two are different levels of environmental stewardship:

• Entry Level Stewardship is a ‘whole farm’ scheme open to all farmers and land managers who farm their land conventionally. 
• Higher Level Stewardship will be combined with entry level to deliver significant environmental benefits in high priority situations and areas.

Management options available for each level are:

	Entry level	Higher level
Arable land	·         over-wintered stubble, beetle banks	·         flower-rich grass margins ·         fallow plots for ground-nesting birds such as lapwings ·         unharvested conservation headlands to provide winter food for birds
Grassland		·         maintenance and restoration of species-rich, semi-natural grassland ·         restoration of wet grassland for breeding waders and wildfowl
Boundary features	·         management of hedgerows, stone walls and ditches	·         maintenance of hedgerows of very high environmental value
Buffer strips	2.4 or 6 m buffer strips on ·         cultivated land/rotational land ·         intensive grassland/organic grassland
Encouraging a range of crop types	·         under sown spring cereals ·         wild bird seed mix/pollen and nectar seed mix in grassland areas
Moorland and upland rough grazing	·         moorland and rough grazing, management of rush pastures	·         restoration of moorland
Lowland grassland and heath	·         taking field corners out of management ·         permanent grassland with low or very low inputs	·         restoration and maintenance of heathland
Management Plans	·         soil management plan ·         nutrient management plan ·         manure management plan ·         crop protection management plan (entry level only)
Protection of soils	·         management of high erosion risk cultivated land ·         management of maize crops to reduce soil erosion	·         grass areas within fields to prevent erosion or run-off ·         seasonal livestock removal to prevent erosion or run-off
Trees and woodland	·         protection of in-field trees – arable/grassland or rotational grassland ·         management of woodland edges	·         restoration of woodland ·         retention of ancient trees in arable fields ·         restoration of traditional orchards
Protection of historic features	·         taking archaeological sites out of arable production	·         restoration of traditional water meadows ·         maintaining high water levels to protect archaeology
Inter-tidal and coastal		·         maintenance of sand dune systems ·         restoration of coastal saltmarsh
Permissive access		·         permissive footpaths ·         permissive bridleways ·         upgrades of ‘open access’ land ·         educational access
Wetland		·         maintenance of ponds of high wildlife value ·         maintenance of reedbeds

(Grid is from the internet not my original work)