The agri-environment schemes, which will be given nearly £3billion over the next five years, have seen an increase in access to the countryside, more wildlife and biodiversity, and greater maintenance of essential features of the British countryside such as stone walls and hedgerows.
The North West has over 2181 agreements, covering approximately 79,1512 hectares in agri-environment schemes.
Examples of projects achieved in the North West in the last year are:
- 28 Bridleways
- 43 farms offering educational access visits
- 121 footpaths (and 8 routes for less mobile users)
- 13 permanent grass margins created
- 96 hedgerows
- 5 beetle banks
- 2 protected historic feature
- 34 stone walls
- 6 protected sand dunes
Defra and Natural England are celebrating the success of these pioneering green farming schemes to highlight the significant contribution they make to the conservation and protection of some of England's most important landscapes and habitats.
Agri-environment schemes work by providing Government-funded financial support to farmers to manage and conserve the land with a focus on 'green farming' such as creating habitats for wildlife and to protect the English landscape.
Over 35,000 Environmental Stewardship agreements covering more than five million hectares of land in England, an area roughly twice the size of Wales, are now in place (together with 20,000 remaining classic scheme agreements covering a further 1 million hectares). The schemes have achieved:
- 30,000km of restored or newly planted hedgerows - that's about the distance from the North Pole to the South Pole and halfway back again (with a further 90,000 km of existing hedgerows being managed in an environmentally friendly way)
- 2,600km of dry stone walls
- Increases in numbers of rare birds such as the grey partridge, stone curlew and cirl bunting
- 800 farms offering educational visits to more than 100,000 schoolchildren per year, and other visits for special interest groups.
