 A review was conducted by Defra and Natural England on the progress of Environmental Stewardship (ES), the latest phase of agri-environment schemes.
ES is a Government-funded scheme open to all farmers, which aims to conserve wildlife, maintain and enhance our landscape quality and character, protect our natural resources, and promote public access to the countryside.
Both participants and non-participants to the ES scheme were surveyed, and the review included an analysis of uptake, an examination of ways in which improvements might be made and modelling of likely environmental outcomes.
Results found in general, ES was working well. So far agri-environment schemes:
• delivered 5 million hectares across England under Environmental Stewardship agreements;
• restored more than 17,000 kilometres of hedgerow;
• created more than 4,800 kilometres of footpaths, and 2,400 kilometres of cycle paths and bridleways;
• assisted recovery of a range of species including the stone curlew, bittern, twite, cirl bunting, and chough;
• are on target to bring 95% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest into favourable condition by 2010.
However, a key recommendation to come out of the review included the need to address the scope that Environmental Stewardship has to help combat climate change and help mitigate its effects on wildlife and habitats.
Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England, said: “We are pleased that the review has recognised the progress made since the introduction of Environmental Stewardship, but agree there is no room for complacency. Natural England will be working hard to implement the findings of this review in a way that allows Environmental Stewardship to address the challenge of climate change and to do more to help the environment.”
In addition, the review suggested more than 100 changes to Entry Level Scheme options, a full review of the payment scheme, and a series of measures to improve local relevance of ELS.
(As reported by the Organic Inform website on 16/05/2007) |
