Environmental Stewardship aims to encourage a large number of farmers and land managers across wide areas of land to deliver effective environmental management on their land. It will address:

• Biodiversity i.e. wildlife conservation
• Maintenance, enhancement and protection of landscape quality and character
• Protection of the historic environment
• Natural Resource Protection
• Promotion of public access
• Genetic conservation
• Flood Protection

The key aim of Environmental Stewardship will be to secure environmental benefits at levels above those of Good Farming Practice and cross-compliance conditions. The scheme will comprise of three elements:-

• Entry Level Stewardship - is open to all farmers and land managers who want to deliver a basic level of environmental management. The proposed annual payment rate is £30 per ha over the whole farm with the following exception: Land within the Less Favoured Area (LFA), in parcels of 15 ha or more will be paid at a rate of £8 per ha.
• Higher Level Stewardship - is open to all farmers and land managers who want to deliver higher levels of environmental management and get higher payment rates.
• Organic Entry Level Stewardship - OELS is open to all farmers with organic land and who are not receiving aid under the Organic Aid Scheme (OAS) or Organic Farming Scheme (OFS). The proposed annual payment rate under OELS is £60 per ha with the following exception: Land within the Less Favoured Area (LFA), in parcels of 15 ha or more will be paid at a rate of £8 per ha.

For further information, please visit   www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/schemes/es/default.htm