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Scheme Uptake

The Countryside Stewardship scheme has 16,100 live agreements managing over 530,000 Ha of land. Including 33,000 ha of grass margin (over 38,000 miles measured in a straight line). An extensive programme of capital works, restoring and maintaining valuable environmental features, now covers over 19,000 miles of hedgerow and 1,300 miles of dry stone wall.

The figures below are the most recently available by GO region and represent 'live' agreements entered into between 1994 and 2003.

Countryside Stewardship - Area under land management 1994/98 - 2003 (see note '2' below)

Graph showing the growth in area by hectares under land management agreements from 1994 to 2003 - from under 1 hundred thousand hectares to over 5 hundred thousand hectares by 2003

Scheme uptake summary table by region (also available to download in Microsoft Excel format Microsoft Excel format [28KB])

Quantity1 of land management, in hectares and live agreements by GO Region scheduled for payment in October 20042
Agreement year 1994-1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 1994-2003
GO Region Ha No. Ha No. Ha No. Ha No. Ha No. Ha No. Total Ha Total No.
East Midlands 6,170 528 2,450 130 6,120 210 6,700 260 9,950 318 9,790 292 41,180 1,738
East 6,430 540 1,970 107 4,090 218 6,440 268 7,770 322 8,670 359 35,370 1,814
North East 8,440 296 15,540 81 22,380 121 22,880 202 16,510 228 14,720 199 100,470 1,127
North West 7,920 599 11,610 98 13,610 214 26,450 260 8,550 235 14,270 277 82,410 1,683
South East & London 12,590 729 2,990 139 6,860 289 12,380 345 15,750 393 27,760 365 78,330 2,260
South West 16,190 971 5,420 260 9,710 516 15,380 571 19,080 648 16,520 644 82,300 3,610
West Midlands 3,950 591 1,880 130 3,910 235 4,620 278 7,550 308 6,830 309 28,740 1,851
Yorkshire & Humber 8,900 563 12,550 160 14,580 273 14,190 273 17,640 412 13,960 337 81,820 2,018
Grand Total (Annual) 70,590 4,817 54,410 1,105 81,260 2,076 109,040 2,457 102,800 2,864 112,520 2,782 530,620 16,101
Grand Total (Cumulative) 70,590 4,817 125,000 5,922 206,260 7,998 315,300 10,455 418,100 13,319 530,620 16,101    
Notes:
1 Quantity includes grass margin and excludes supplements
2 Payments made in October 2004 are for land management for the period 1 October 2003-30 September 2004
Figures are rounded down to the nearest ten hectares. Agreements from 2001 onwards include 'renewals'

A further breakdown of the above agreements by County, based on County, Parish, Holding Number is available below.

Scheme Uptake by County, based on County, Parish, Holding Number
Agreement Year 1994-2002 2003 1994-2003
County Ha No. Ha No. Total Ha Total No.
Bedfordshire 1830 164 450 26 2280 190
Berkshire 3480 98 680 22 4160 120
Buckinghamshire 3960 195 740 25 4700 220
Cambridgeshire 4330 206 1760 65 6090 271
Cheshire 4120 230 1320 56 5440 286
Cleveland 1160 95 120 11 1280 106
Cornwall 10630 551 1690 82 12320 633
Cumbria 37850 630 8870 137 46720 767
Derbyshire 8760 399 2300 48 11060 447
Devonshire 18150 996 3760 198 21910 1194
Dorset 10350 331 1990 62 12340 393
Durham 16080 284 1630 57 17710 341
Essex 2250 204 1010 44 3260 248
Gloucestershire 5210 241 1900 65 7110 306
Hampshire 9600 364 19400 71 29000 435
Hereford & Worcs 7590 598 1730 95 9320 693
Hertfordshire 2180 121 680 31 2860 152
Kent 7820 368 1820 68 9640 436
Lancashire 26170 546 4080 84 30250 630
Leicestershire 3640 246 1220 48 4860 294
Lincolnshire 9870 376 3890 112 13760 488
Norfolk 11890 461 3390 122 15280 583
Northamptonshire 7200 274 1840 48 9040 322
Northumberland 68510 549 12970 131 81480 680
Nottinghamshire 1920 151 540 36 2460 187
Oxfordshire 5550 239 1760 57 7310 296
Shropshire 5660 390 2150 96 7810 486
Somerset 12000 541 4220 153 16220 694
Staffordshire 4830 310 2030 72 6860 382
Suffolk 4220 299 1380 71 5600 370
Surrey 5630 185 1020 42 6650 227
Sussex 14530 446 2340 80 16870 526
Warwickshire 3830 244 920 46 4750 290
Wiltshire 9440 306 2960 84 12400 390
Yorkshire 67860 1681 13960 337 81820 2018
Grand Total 418100 13319 112520 2782 530620 16101
Notes:
- Separate figures for Hereford & Worcs are not identifiable using County, Parish, Holding Number.
Kilometres of Planned Restoration and Maintenance of Capital Linear Features 1991-2013 (by GO Region)
Feature East
Midlands		 East North East North West South East
& London		 South West West Midlands Yorkshire
& Humber		 Total
Hedgerow 3,944 3,950 2,438 4,027 3,543 7,358 3,395 3,048 31,704
Dry Stone-wall 454 2 428 389 13 145 89 640 2,160
Total 4,398 3,952 2,866 4,417 3,556 7,503 3,484 3,688 33,864
2003-2004 Area under land management by land use category

Pie chart showing Area under land management by land use category

 

Land management categories Ha
Lowland pasture and lowland hay meadow 150,000
Arable 30,000
Arable Reversion 51,000
Grass Margin 33,000
Heathland/Moorland 161,000
Upland pasture and upland hay meadow 84,000
Access 9,000
Other 13,000
Grand Total 531,000

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Page last modified: 19 May, 2005
Page published: 10 December, 2002

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs