New guidance has been issued by DEFRA, the Forestry Commission, Natural England and the Rural Payments Agency on Common Agricultural Policy reform.
Members may be interested to note that page 3 of the document highlights changes to grants under environmental management and historic environment:
‘A new scheme for environmental land management will replace Environmental Stewardship (ES), the English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS) and capital grants from the Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) programme in 2015. The new scheme, part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), will deliver over £900 million for enhancing the countryside.
It will be open to all eligible land managers, owners and tenan ts. If you already have an existing agreement which runs past 2015, you’ll be able to carr y on with this agreement until it ends.
Overall, biodiversity will be the priority for the new scheme, with water also an important area of focus. The scheme will deliver outcomes for the historic environment, landscape quality and character, genetic conservation and educational access. It will also contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation’
