Defra

Introduction

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) scheme has now closed to new applicants. Defra introduced a new Environmental Stewardship Scheme on 3 March 2005 which supersedes (with enhancements) the ESA and Countryside Stewardship Schemes. These pages are in the process of being updated to reflect the latest information relating to this ESA.

The ESA covers 5,200 hectares of floodplain and adjoining land. It is located in a pastoral river valley setting of the Avon which rises in Wiltshire and then flows southwards through the counties of Hampshire and Dorset to the sea at Christchurch. The northern boundary lies at Netheravon, and the ESA occupies a restricted corridor running from north to south as it follows the river valley through Amesbury, Salisbury and Ringwood before meeting the sea in the sheltered waters and mudflats of the Christchurch harbour.

Description

The river is one of the finest chalk rivers in England, with a pastoral landscape that has evolved over centuries through farming of the naturally fertile flood plain. The valley is relatively wet and low lying, with a tendency to flood in winter. The combinations of grassland, streams, small woods, scrub and willow car create a varied landscape of high value. The middle reaches of the river have the highest concentration of traditional water meadows in England and there are archaeological remains dating from prehistoric times to more recent industrial monuments. The ESA consists mainly of wet river valley grassland which is used for beef production, dairying, sheep and horse grazing.

Significant Habitats and Species

The valley is of international importance for wildlife. The river is probably the most species-rich lowland river in Britain. It has a rich aquatic flora and fauna, including some rare species. The Avon is also renowned for its associated unimproved wet grassland and other wetland habitats. Five areas of the ESA (1000 ha) have been designated as SSSIs on this basis; some of these areas, together with the riverine SSSI (the entire river system), form a proposed Special Area of Conservation under the EC Habitats Directive. The grasslands, particularly in the lower reaches, are renowned for the populations of breeding waders and wintering wildfowl that they support; for this reason, the southern end of the valley is a potential Special Protection Area under the EC Birds Directive and is a proposed Ramsar site.

ESA Management Options

The management options for the different landscape types that can be entered into ESA agreements for the Avon Valley are given in the ERDP documents section of this site, under Annex X of the England Rural Development Programme. There three main management options that land can be entered into:

• Option one provides for the extensive management of existing permanent grassland and wet grassland, with restrictions on cultivation, stocking rates and fertiliser and pesticide applications. Wet grassland requires the raising of water levels in ditches to provide wetter conditions for a long period in the spring and summer. Maintenance of ditches and other landscape features, such as pollarded willows is required.
• The aim of option two is to create new grassland habitats and protect the nature conservation interest of watercourses by reverting arable to permanent grassland and by establishing grass buffer strips.
• Option three is to maintain and enhance the nature conservation and landscape interest of small-scale native woodland.

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme (ESA) is now closed to new entrants, however the current level of support will be maintained until the end of the life of the agreements.

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