What is Countryside Stewardship?
Countryside Stewardship (CS) is a government scheme which provides financial incentives for farmers, foresters and land managers in England to look after and improve the environment and the land which they manage. Payment options can range from preserving historical features and incentivising education access, to improving soil health with rotational options.
Applicants for Countryside Stewardship can access funding for protecting and enhancing the natural environment in various ways, including:
- Increasing biodiversity
- Improving farmland productivity
- Improving habitat
- Expanding woodland areas
- Improving water quality
- Improving air quality
- Improving natural flood management
The Countryside Stewardship Scheme aims to support sustainable land management practices and promote biodiversity conservation while considering the needs of farmers and landowners. By participating in the scheme, landowners and farmers can receive financial support while contributing to the long-term protection and enhancement of the countryside.
With our Countryside Stewardship Template, users can quickly and accurately assess the eligibility of different CS options for their land, draw an RPA compatible map ready for submission, and download a plan in table view for precision and accuracy.
Diversify your sources of income, whilst protecting the environment and improving resilience.
You could receive payments to restore or create habitats that benefit the surrounding environment in the right context
Who should apply for Countryside Stewardship?
Farmers, foresters and land managers who are looking to access funding to protect and enhance the environment can consider CS funding as a potential option. Whether you’re re-applying or considering Countryside Stewardship for the first time, the Land App is the perfect tool to guide you through the application process – from mapping to calculating your potential funding.
To learn more about Countryside Stewardship and how to successfully apply for funding for your land, please visit the Countryside Stewardship guidance page.
What are the benefits?
Assessing whether stewardship is the right option for your land can be complex, especially when faced with many potential options and tiers; Land App helps you baseline, map and collaborate with advisors to best assess your options.
Alternative Source of Funding
De-risk your farm’s income by accessing guaranteed annual payments.
Work with Nature
Benefit from an integrated system to become more resilient to change, and reduce reliance on inputs.
Contribute to Landscape Recovery
By promoting nature, flood mitigation and carbon sequestration across your farm, you can contribute to recovery at the landscape scale.
Unlock payments for Capital Items
Get paid to improve key farm infrastructure, such as fencing, cattle drinkers and building restoration.
Land App provides unique and essential tools to help land managers to prepare for ecological and financial resilience
Our bespoke Countryside Stewardship Template in Land App revolutionises the application process: combining the latest environmental and spatial data with our intuitive mapping platform to empower farmers and landowners to easily see how they could integrate stewardship options into their land and where they’d benefit financially.
How to find your stewardship funding
To map and plan your stewardship application, follow these simple steps:
- Download RPA Land Cover Data
Run our instant “RPA Field Importer” for your Single Business Identifier (SBI) number to access all your field parcel information into a Countryside Stewardship Template.
2. Build a Plan
Draw on your plan where you wish to apply for stewardship options for your farm. (You can check which options are relevant to your scheme on the .GOV website)
3. Check the Eligibility of Your Scheme
Cross reference your Stewardship Plan with land-use types, designations and land-use types to avoid a penalty.
4. Apply via the Rural Payments Agency
Once your Countryside Stewardship plan is ready to go, you can export both the map and register of options ready for applications.
Have additional questions?
Send us an email on support@thelandapp.com