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  • rpwills
    • Sep 17
    • 6 min read

Landscape, conservation and farming - so many designations!

Land use – some thoughts (2)

 

Current situation
The current situation is to say the least complex, with a plethora of designations. There are various categories of landscape type, such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Great Landscape Value.   They are designed to protect what are deemed more valuable landscapes. 
 
A similar situation prevails with a range of categories relating to conservation status – such as Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest.
 
With regard to agriculture we again have a number of schemes including Less Favoured Areas (LFA) and various agri-environmental schemes - Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI),  Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Landscape Recovery.  LFAs are designed to support farming in areas where it is less economic while the agri-environmental schemes are to pay for environmental and climate goods and services. 
 
There are also a multitude of Woodland grant schemes: - Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG), England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO),
Woodland Management Planning Grant (WMP) part of Countryside Stewardship, Woodland Tree Health (part of Countryside Stewardship).

Landscape
National Parks
“England’s National Parks represent our finest landscapes - famed for their spectacular beauty, varied wildlife and rich cultural heritage. They provide green spaces for the nation, help us tackle climate change and declining biodiversity, support local communities, and improve our health and well-being.”
 
Green belt
The concept was devised by Octavia Hill in 1875 and “refers to a ring of countryside where urbanisation will be resisted for the foreseeable future, maintaining an area where local food growing, forestry and outdoor leisure can be expected to prevail." [Wikipedia].
  
 “Green belts are a buffer between towns, and between town and countryside. The green belt designation is a planning tool and the aim of green belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open; however, there is not necessarily a right of access there. There are 14 green belts in England and 1 in Wales.”
  
Area of Great Landscape Value
“An Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) is an area of land in England which is considered to be of high landscape quality with strong distinctive characteristics which make them particularly sensitive to development. The designation was established under the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Within ALGVs the primary objective is conservation and enhancement of their landscape quality and individual character. These will sit outside of any AONBs."
 
 
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
“An area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) is land protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act). It protects the land to conserve and enhance its natural beauty.”
 
Before Natural England proposes an area becomes an AONB, it must meet the ‘natural beauty criterion’. This could be a combination of factors, such as:
·                       landscape quality, where natural or man-made landscape is good quality
·                       scenic quality, such as striking coastal landforms
·                       relative wildness, such as distance from housing or having few roads
·                       relative tranquillity, where natural sounds, such as streams or birdsong are predominant
·                       natural heritage features, such as distinctive geology or species and habitat
·                       cultural heritage, which can include the built environment that makes the area unique, such as archaeological remains or historic parkland
 
Heritage coasts
“Heritage coasts were established to:
·                       conserve, protect and enhance:
·                                     the natural beauty of the coastline
·                                     their terrestrial, coastal and marine flora and fauna
·                                     their heritage features
·                       encourage and help the public to enjoy, understand and appreciate these areas
·                       maintain and improve the health of inshore waters affecting heritage coasts and their beaches through appropriate environmental management measures
·                       take account of the needs of agriculture, forestry and fishing and the economic and social needs of the small communities on these coasts".
 
National Character Areas
There are 159 Character Areas, each of which is distinctive with a unique 'sense of place'. These broad divisions of landscape form the basic units of cohesive countryside character, on which strategies for both ecological and landscape issues can be based. The Character Area framework is used to describe and shape objectives for the countryside, its planning and management."
  
Conservation status
Special Areas of Conservation
“Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are protected areas in the UK designated under:
  • the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended) in England and Wales (including the adjacent territorial sea) 
 
….a network of important high-quality conservation sites that will make a significant contribution to conserving the habitats and species identified in Annexes I and II, respectively, of European Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, known as the Habitats Directive. The listed habitat types and species are those considered to be most in need of conservation at a European level (excluding birds).”
 
Special Protection Areas
"Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are protected areas for birds in the UK classified under:
  • the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended) in England and Wales (including the adjacent territorial sea) 
 
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is the land designated under Directive 2009/147/EC on the Conservation of Wild Birds. SPAs are strictly protected sites classified in accordance with Article 4 of the EC Birds Directive, which came into force in April 1979. They are classified for rare and vulnerable birds (as listed on Annex I of the Directive), and for regularly occurring migratory species."
 
 
 
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
"Sites of Special Scientific Interest Site Units are divisions of SSSIs based on habitat, tenure and management, and are the basis for recording all information on SSSI Condition and management.
Sites of Special Scientific Interest Site (SSSI) Units are divisions of SSSIs based on habitat, tenure and management, and are the basis for recording all information on SSSI Condition and management. They range in Area from 0.004ha up to 18,000ha and only overlap where SSSIs overlap.
A SSSI is the land notified as an SSSI under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), as amended. Sites notified under the 1949 Act only are not included in the Data set.
SSSI are the finest sites for wildlife and natural features in England, supporting many characteristic, rare and endangered species, habitats and natural features."
 
 
Agricultural status
Less Favoured Area
“The Less Favoured Areas consist of Severely Disadvantaged and Disadvantaged Areas. They are (mainly upland) areas where the natural characteristics (geology, altitude, climate, etc.) make economic competition difficult. In place since 1975, it is a long standing measure of the Common Agricultural Policy”
 [Defra].

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
“Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) are areas designated as being at risk from agricultural nitrate pollution. They include about 55% of land in England.”
 
Environmental Land Management schemes.
"We will have three schemes to pay for environmental and climate goods and services:
the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will pay farmers to adopt and maintain sustainable farming practices that can protect and enhance the natural environment alongside food production, and also support farm productivity (including by improving animal health and welfare, optimising the use of inputs and making better use of natural resources)
Countryside Stewardship (CS) will pay for more targeted actions relating to specific locations, features and habitats. There will be an extra incentive through CS Plus for land managers to join up across local areas to deliver bigger and better results
Landscape Recovery will pay for bespoke, longer-term, larger scale projects to enhance the natural environment
 
The schemes will collectively pay farmers and land managers to deliver, alongside food production, significant and important outcomes for the climate and environment that can only be delivered by farmers and other land managers in the wider countryside. These include:
·                       creating and restoring a broad range of wildlife-rich habitat, as well as continuing to protect habitat already managed under our existing agri-environment schemes
·                       improving water quality, by reducing nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution from agricultural activities, building on our existing Catchment Sensitive Farming approach
·                       increasing resilience to flooding and drought through nature-based solutions such as natural flood management
·                       creating more new woodlands and treescapes to increase tree and woodland cover, and encouraging management of existing woodlands, including to increase their resilience to pests and diseases
·                       reducing carbon emissions, storing carbon and increasing resilience to climate change, for example through management of soils, water, peatland and trees." 
 

More to follow!!!
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