Environmental Grants

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Environmental Grants

• Jane Burch
• CLA Regional Adviser

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Environmental Grants

• Environmental Stewardship
• Entry level stewardship (ELS/OELS)
• Higher level stewardship (HLS)
• England Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS)
• Energy Crop Scheme (ECS)
• Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF)

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Environmental Stewardship (ES)

• ES gets 80 of the RDPE budget
• ELS gets most of the money, though exact amount
  depends on uptake
• Classic schemes(CSS/ESA) account for 772m
• HLS gets 600m - but demand likely to outstrip
  funds

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Environmental Stewardship
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Entry Level Stewardship

• In this region-
• 853,000 ha of ELS/OELS ( 59 of total available
  agricultural area)
• 9,000 ha of OELS
• Most common options
• Hedgerow Management
• Ditch Management
• Soil, Nutrient, Crop Protection Management Plans
• 6m Buffer Strips
• Field Corner Management
• Source Natural England, Eastern Region as at
  November 2007

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Higher Level Stewardship

• Total area of HLS options 17,526 ha
• Average area of HLS options per agreement
  71 ha
• Priority Habitats maintained/restored
  7847 ha
• Priority Habitats created 1868 ha
• Farmland birds 1966 ha
• Buffer strip options
  737 ha
• Historic Environment options
  1118 ha
• Resource Protection 423
  ha
• Access created 148 km
• Hedgerows planted/restored 208 km
• Ponds created/restored 85,000 m2
• On SSSI 3768 ha
• Source Natural England, Eastern Region as at
  November 2007

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Latest changes to ELS/OELS

• Withdrawal of the four Management Plan Options
•  
• Inclusion of scheme requirements related to the
  proposed revisions to the Nitrates Action
  Programme
•  
• Insertion of a Review Clause in Environmental
  Stewardship Agreements.
•              
• Provisional ELS/OELS agreements dated after 1
  February 2007 and all new applications will need
  to reflect these changes.

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HLS update changes

• The challenge of getting CSS ESA into HLS
• Source Natural England. Graph shows E Region
  CSS agreements

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Changes to HLS

• Demand greater than budget
• New challenges from climate change, WFD, etc
• Targeting on areas that deliver multiple benefits
• Move from list to map based approach

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New approach multi-objective priority maps
PRIORITY AREAS
DATA LAYERS
Biodiversity
Landscape
Access
High priority, high risk
Resource Protection
Medium priority/risk
Historic environment
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HLS targeting map
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Changes to HLS targeting

• The original targeting statements remain the core
• element of the current targeting process,
• supplemented by the maps, which pick out the best
  
• locations to achieve the desired range of
  outcomes.
• The current maps are being used to inform new
• agreements for Feb and May 2008 application
  windows.
• Further consultation and pilots on this map-based
  
• approach in the coming months, leading to full
• implementation by September 2008

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England Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS)

• EWGS consists of 6 grants for the creation and
  stewardship of woodlands
• Administered by the Forestry Commission
• Aims
• - sustain and increase public benefits derived
  from existing woodlands
• - invest in the creation of new woodlands that
  deliver maximum public benefits
• Must comply with forestry regulations, UK
  Forestry Standards and FC guidance.

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England Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS) valid
until 29/02/08

• Woodland Planning Grant for the production of
  management plans
• Woodland Assessment Grant to gather information
  to improve management decisions
• Woodland Regeneration Grant to make changes to
  increase the delivery of public benefits from a
  wood

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England Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS)

• Woodland Management Grant to support basic
  management activities that underpin woodland
  sustainability.
• Woodland Improvement Grant to support capital
  projects which increase public access, improve
  SSSIs, increase biodiversity and for forest
  schools.
• Woodland Creation Grant to create new, well
  located woodlands. Extra paid for woodland
  access and proximity to urban populations
  (closed 28/09/07)

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Energy Crops Scheme

• The Energy Crops Scheme provides
• establishment grants for energy crops,
  short-rotation coppice (SRC) and miscanthus
• SRC can be willow, ash, alder, hazel, silver
  birch, sycamore, sweet chestnut and lime on 8-15
  year rotations
• minimum area 3 hectares
• crops must be located at reasonable distance from
  end use

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Energy Crops Scheme

• Grant 40 of establishment cost
• need to demonstrate that you have/will have an
  energy end use for the crops e.g. biomass power
  station, community scheme or own use.
• Administered by Natural England, Yorks Humber

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Energy Crops

• Defra Bio-Energy Infrastructure Scheme - support
  for short rotation coppice growers to set up
  producer groups to work together to supply to one
  or more energy end-uses.
• Defra Bio-energy Capital Grants for biomass
  installations next round open for expressions
  of interest
• (usually applied for by boiler installer).

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Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund

• The Aggregates Levy raises some 300million each
  year and about 10 of this is available as grant
  funding.
• The ALSF has the following objectives
• minimise demand for primary aggregates
• promote environmental friendly extraction and
  transport
• address environmental impacts of aggregate
  extraction
• compensate communities for the impacts of
  extraction
• Funds available to individuals or organisations
  that have a project
• proposal that fits the above objectives.
  Administered by Defra.

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Contact Details

• Jane Burch
• Regional Adviser
• Country Land Business Association Ltd
• 01284 789201
• jane.burch_at_cla.org.uk
• www.cla.org.uk