Rural Development Programme for England

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Rural Development Programme for England Natural
England Axis 2 update 29 April 2009 Gerry
Hamersley, Area Manager
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• My Aim
• To update you on what has been achieved in the
  South West region to date
• To inform you of the challenges ahead and funding
  in 2009/10
• Seek your assistance for more delivery, more
  effective and more integrated

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Environmental StewardshipSW Region (12 Mar 09
Source GenRep BM03)

• ELS 753,566 ha
• OELS 165,859 ha
• HLS 49,037 ha (35,235 underpinned by (O)ELS,
  inc above)
• CSS 61,832 ha
• ESA 162,055 ha
• Utilisable Agricultural Area under AE agreement -
  61.75
• (UAA)

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ENTRY LEVEL SCHEME

• In the New Year ELS and OELS went through 5
  million hectares
• 25 of Englands total
• Target under schemes of UAA for March 2010 is 65
  (70 by 2011)
• We need another 60,000 hectares this year
• Natural England will be putting more resources
  into this.
• We need applications to ELS and other schemes in
  the form of new applications or renewals
• To be joined by Upland ELS in 2010

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Higher Level Scheme
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WILDLIFE CONSERVATION habitat - Hay Meadow
(Ragged Robin)
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WILDLIFE CONSERVATION species - Large Blue
Butterfly
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WILDLIFE CONSERVATION - Cultivated Margin
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LANDSCAPE
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LANDSCAPE - new hedge planting next to 6m margin
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HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT - Roman Villa Mosaic, Glos

• .

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RESOURCE PROTECTION - Soil Erosion by Cattle

• .

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Permissive Access

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PROMOTING UNDERSTANDING OF THE COUNTRYSIDE
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Examples of SW Options Uptake in (O)ELS/HLS (17
Feb 09 Source GenRep)

• 1385 Skylark plots
• 50 ha traditional orchards restored
• 82 km new permissive footpaths
• 70 agreements with educational access
• 39 km new hedges planted
• 34 ha of wet scrapes created
• 5,000 ha being grazed by native breeds at risk

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Two Moors Threatened Butterfly Project

• Addressing the declines of the Marsh, Heath and
  High Brown Fritillary on Dartmoor Exmoor

Exmoor Mational Park Sustainable Development
Fund Dartmoor National Park Sustainable
Development Fund
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Radipole and Lodmoor, Weymouth
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Corsham Court Grade II parkland
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Funding and Spend in SW Region

• Present Commitment per annum (existing
  agreements)
• (O)ELS - 37.8M
• HLS - 11.9M plus capital works
• CSS - 16.0M
• ESA - 13.6M
• Additional funds for 09/10 delivery
• 11M for new HLS
• 5M Additional capital works on existing
  agreements (CSS/ESA/HLS)

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• Natural England SW RDPE Targets for 09/10
• Make significant contribution to SSSI PSA target
  of 8,175 ha new gain
• Make significant contribution to maintaining
  condition on 145,000Ha of SSSI already meeting
  PSA target condition
• Bring 18,695 Ha of BAP habitat into HLS
  management
• 580 HLS agreements
• Secure at least 80 of area of expiring CSS/ESA
  into ES (HLS and/or ELS)

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Expiring Agreements in 2009 SW region

• .

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Targeting ES in the South West

• TAs will help ensure that the scheme can make an
  impact at the wider landscape scale.
• TAs will maximise synergy between the objectives,
  achieve delivery efficiency and best
  environmental value.
• A focus on large contiguous areas is compatible
  with current thinking on climate change
  adaptation.
• As a suite, TAs should adequately cover and aim
  to improve the delivery of high priority outcomes
  for each of the five primary objectives for HLS.

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Target Areas in SW region

• Wye Valley
• Cotswolds
• North Wessex Downs
• Salisbury Plain (excl. SPTA) and West Wiltshire
  Downs
• Dorset Downs and Cranborne Chase
• Purbeck and Dorset Heaths
• Isle of Portland and West Dorset Coast
• South Cornwall Coast
• Gordano Valley
• The Mendip Hills
• Somerset Levels and Moors and the Poldens
• Quantock Hills
• Exmoor

• Blackdown Hills and East Devon
• Dartmoor
• South Devon Coast and River Valleys
• North Devon and North Cornwall coast
• Upper Tamar
• Lower Tamar
• Bodmin Moor
• Goss Moor and North Cornish Killas
• Fal, Roseland and Mevagissey
• Carnmenellis
• The Lizard
• Penwith
• Isles of Scilly

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Summary of Dashboard analysis for SW region
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Examples of high priority HLS Features outside
TAsThemes

• SSSIs and HE designated sites requiring HLS
  management options to restore their condition
• Culm grassland and associated hedgerows of North
  Devon and North Cornwall
• Lowland meadows and associated hedgerows of North
  Wiltshire, north of the Mendip Hills, St.
  Braviels and Marshwood and Blackmoor Vales in
  Dorset
• Historic parkland (dispersed across the region)
• Wet grassland restoration for breeding waders
  Severn and Avon Vale, North Somerset Levels and
  Moors, Cotswold Water Park and Exe Estuary
• Lowland heathland and acid grassland north of
  Bournemouth and Poole (including urban sites) and
  Haldon Ridge, SW of Exeter
• Farmland Birds suite outside TAs
• Traditional orchards e.g. in Gloucestershire,
  South Somerset, mid Devon and Dorset
• Access and/ or educational access where there is
  an identified demand or need, linking people with
  place and where it enhances existing network

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The Challenge and the Ask

• Expiring classics need to be converted
• Renewed energy on the uptake of ES, both entry
  and higher levels
• Significantly more HLS agreements and land
  covered by Environmental Stewardship
• Steep targets for BAP and SSSIs
• Stretching to spend
• Bring forward landscape scale projects to improve
  the SW rural environment in the face of climate
  change
• Encouraging more operational integration with
  Axis 1 and 3 since ES was already up and running