News
March 2011
Fears over changes to environment agreements
Farming leaders have expressed concern that budget cuts at Natural England could mean a lack of support for hill farmers switching from Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) agreements to Higher Level Stewardship (HLS).
The National Farmers Union (NFU) said a potential lack of on-the-ground advice was a real concern, with hundreds of thousands of hectares set to come out of ESA by 2014.
The Environment Stewardship scheme was introduced in 2005, replacing the old ESA and Countryside Stewardship (CS) schemes. As existing 10-year ESA and CS contracts expire, farmers will be moved over to the new system.
HLS offers a number of additional benefits compared to ESA, including the possibility of grants for capital works such as the restoration of traditional farm buildings, but its added complexity and more targeted nature mean farmers have generally required support through the application procedure.
In response, Natural England said it would do all it could to mitigate the effect of the government-imposed cuts, which were forcing it to reduce staff numbers by around 30 per cent. The organisation said it would take ‘as little as possible’ out of the front line and work more closely with the NFU at a local level to support farmers.
