Among the diverse options available, wetland creation stands out as a powerful choice for supporting biodiversity, improving water quality, and addressing climate change. In this blog, we highlight some of the options available to landowners and farmers creating wetlands with Countryside Stewardship, how much you could potentially get paid, and the environmental impact these can bring.
Why Wetlands?
In our recent blog, we dived into wetlands and why they are such an important feature of our landscapes. Without a doubt, we need more wetland creation and enhancement to combat climate change, reduce flood risk, and improve biodiversity. However, these changes can be expensive for land owners – both in project costs and in potential income foregone from areas taken out of production. Landowners and farmers must be supported in this transition. The Countryside Stewardship Scheme is an example of this support.
Please note, that you should work with an advisor if applying for Countryside Stewardship, who will help guide you through the application, including option eligibility, suitability, and finances.
Wetland Countryside Stewardship Options
2025 Capital Grants and Actions – Higher Tier
- Payment: £181 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental Benefits: Reverse artificial drainage and restore natural hydrological conditions to enhance or restore wet woodland habitat.
CSW18: Raise water levels in permanent grassland peat soils to near the land surface
- Payment: £1,381 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental benefits: This option prevents the degradation of lowland peat soils and
- reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
CWT10: Manage lowland raised bog
- Payment: £215 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental benefits: A rain-fed water table is kept close to the surface of the peat.
- A cover of characteristic bog vegetation such as sphagnum moss and cotton grass is maintained or expanded. Reduce the amounts of invasive bracken, scrub or non-native species.
CWT12: Wetland Grazing Supplement
- Payment: £566 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental benefits: It supports the appropriate grazing management of wetland habitats.
CWT13: Manage and restore fen, reedbed and wetland mosaics
- Payment: £920 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental benefits: Increase biodiversity, by supporting a diverse range of target species, storing carbon, reducing flood risk, improving water quality, and protecting archaeological sites with waterlogged remains.
CWT14: Create fen, reedbed or wetland mosaics
- Payment: £1,605 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental benefits: Increase biodiversity, by supporting a range of target species, storing carbon, reducing flood risk, improving water quality and protecting archaeological sites with waterlogged remains.
CGS19: Manage wet grassland for wintering waders and wildfowl
- Payment: £547 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental Benefits: Provide suitable wet grassland feeding and roosting habitat for wintering waders and wildfowl. Support other features such as historic or archaeological features, ditches of high environmental value and areas of species-rich wet grassland.
CSW12: Make room for the river to move
- Payments: £1,489 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental Benefits: Restore and create new and dynamic areas of the river and wet floodplain habitats – these areas will move over time due to the river itself moving. Let water seasonally flood from and drain back into the river, reducing the risk of soil erosion and downstream flooding.
RP8: Constructed Wetlands for Treatment of Pollution
- Payment: 50% of costs.
- Environmental benefits: It creates and maintains wetland features that treat field runoff and other contaminated water generated from agricultural activities. This helps reduce the risk of sediment and other pollutants entering a nearby watercourse.
WN10: Construction of water penning structures
- Payment: Up to 100% of actual costs.
- Environmental benefits: It will provide bespoke water penning or control structures to support raised water levels for restoring or creating habitats.
WN13: Supplement: Manage wetland cutting
- Payment: £1,346 per hectare (ha).
- Environmental benefits: It supports the appropriate cutting management of wetland habitats.
2024 Capital Grants and Options
- SW18: Raised water levels on grassland on peat soils – Payment: £1,381 per hectare (ha). This option prevents the degradation of lowland peat soils, reducing carbon dioxide release, improving soil health, natural flood management and biodiversity
- GS11: Creation of Wet Grassland for Breeding Waders – Payment: £676 per hectare (ha). Establishes wet grassland for breeding waders, supporting successful nesting and fledging of young birds.
- WT7: Creation of Reedbed – Payment: £1,605 per hectare (ha). Generates reed-dominated vegetation, creating habitat for diverse species in wetland areas.
- WT9: Creation of Fen – Payment: £1,605 per hectare (ha). Creates open fen vegetation, supporting a diverse range of fen species and enhancing overall wetland biodiversity.
- GS12: Creation of Wet Grassland for Wintering Waders and Wildfowl – Payment: £547 per hectare (ha). Provides wintering grounds for wildfowl and wading birds, offering undisturbed feeding and roosting areas.
- WN2: Creation of Scrapes and Gutters – Payment: £5.64 per square metre. Scrapes and gutters provide essential habitats for wildlife, creating feeding areas for waders and promoting biodiversity in wet and dry habitats.
Creating wetlands with Countryside Stewardship is not just a financial opportunity; it’s a commitment to a sustainable, thriving landscape. Contributing to natural flood management, water retention, improved biodiversity, and the fight against climate change, the case for wetland creation is clear.
Land App is designed to help landowners and managers appraise their options and apply for schemes: we have our very own countryside stewardship template, combined with helpful data layers, which makes planning wetland creation streamlined and effective.
Interested in making wetland creation part of your next stewardship option?
