Britain: An official handbook > 1993

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY
their landscape, wildlife or historic
importance.
Since the Scheme began in 1987, each
ESA’s environmental and economic impact
has been closely monitored. Following a
review of the first areas, significant changes
and improvements have been made to the
Scheme, including opportunities for farmers
to restore key environmental features of their
land.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas are
unique and diverse in character, and
include the heather moorlands of the
North Peak and grassland of the
Broads in England; the landscape of
the Cambrian Mountains in Wales;
part of the coastal areas of the North
and South Uists, Benbecula, Barra and
Vatersay in the Outer Hebrides off
north-west Scotland; and the steep
sided glens and unique farming
patterns of Antrim in Northern
Ireland.
Participation in the ESA scheme is
voluntary, and farmers enter into agreements
with the relevant Ministry; initially they
lasted for five years. In the reviewed areas
ten-year agreements are offered—with a five-
year break clause. An agreement specifies the
agricultural management practices to be
carried out by the farmer. Each ESA has
varying tiers of management practices, from
basic care and maintenance to more extensive
forms of management. Details vary from one
ESA to another, but all participants are
prohibited from converting grassland to arable
and are subject to restrictions on fertiliser and
chemical usage. Most ESAs also restrict the
numbers of stock that can be carried on the
land as well as other operations—including
the timing of cultivation. The annual
payments are designed to compensate the
farmers for reduced profitability, through the
adoption of these less intensive production
methods, and for the further work some
management practices require. In Scotland
additional payments are made for distinct
items of conservation work set out in a
mandatory farm conservation plan. Annual
government expenditure on payments to
farmers within ESAs throughout Britain is
expected to rise to £64-5 million in 1994—95.
At the end of 1991 some 340,000 hectares
(840,000 acres) of farmland were within the
ESAs in England; 193,000 hectares
(477,000 acres) in Wales; 220,000 hectares
(540,000 acres) in Scotland; and 40,000
hectares (100,000 acres) in Northern Ireland.
Some 3,100 farmers in England, 715 in
Wales, 800 in Scotland and 1,030 in
Northern Ireland have signed management
agreements. Some 114,000 hectares
(280,000 acres) in the English ESAs were
covered by the agreements; 61,000 hectares
(150,000 acres) in Wales; 120,000 hectares
(300,000 acres) in Scotland; and 22,000
hectares (54,000 acres) in Northern Ireland.
Other Schemes
Farmers are encouraged to develop new
sources of income as an alternative to surplus
production through grants to diversify into
tourism and other non-agricultural activities
on the farm. The Farm Woodland Premium
Scheme, introduced in 1992, assists the
planting of woodlands on agricultural land,
with incentives for broadleaved trees. Annual
incentives of up to ,£250 a hectare are to be
paid for either ten or 15 years, depending on
the type of woodland created on arable or
improved grassland. Annual incentives of £60
a hectare are to be paid for trees planted on
unimproved grassland in the LFAs. Planting
must not, in aggregate, exceed more than 50
per cent of any individual agricultural unit.
The European Community set-aside
scheme, introduced in Britain in 1988, offers
annual payments to farmers to take at least 20
per cent of their arable land out of
agricultural production for five years.
Additional payments for managing five-year
set-aside land for the benefit of wildlife,
landscape and the local community are
available under the Countryside Premium
Scheme (at present limited to eastern
England). The Farm and Conservation Grant
Scheme, part-funded by the European
Community, provides grants for farmers to
undertake environmental improvements and a
limited range of farm investments. Under
pilot Beef and Sheep Extensification
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