Priority Habitat Management Pilot

Welsh Government have commissioned a project to deliver and manage an environmental land-management based pilot research project. The pilot is targeted at specific grassland priority grassland habitat types that are under threat. These are listed as ‘of principal importance to Wales’ at Section 7 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016: Unimproved Lowland Neutral Grassland. The aim of the pilot is to bring this priority grassland habitat into optimum condition over the next five years.

The pilot will be utilising newly-designed outcome based methodology to assess habitat condition in ecological terms and reward participants accordingly (Results-based Agricultural Payment Scheme (RBAPS). This methodology and newly developed technical assessment process has been specifically designed and developed by RSK ADAS Ltd. This novel outcome based methodology approach is different to current conventional land-management schemes that pay farmers to deliver specific prescriptions on an income forgone principle.

The outcome of the project is to support the Section 6 of the Environment Act (public authorities’ duty to maintain & enhance biodiversity & resilience of ecosystems) & inform development of our post-Brexit farming support mechanism: Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), by Land Management Reform Unit. One of the key actions proposed in the new SFS is support for management of priority habitats, and this pilot project can provide a baseline mechanism for delivery of that action. The results will also make a contribution to support the Programme for Government “creating a new system of farm support that will maximize the protected power of nature through farming”.