Natural England to publish maps showing land under stewardship

Natural England is drawing together online maps that show all the bits of land that are covered by Environmental Stewardship agreements.

Helen Philips, NE chief executive, told visitors to the Royal Show on Monday (2 July) that it was part of a drive to encourage greater transparency.

“If we are going to spend £3bn on stewardship we want people to understand what is happening,” she said.

“We hope by the end of the year people will be able to look at any parish and see what is going on.”

The organisation has said it wants to draw attention to the amount of land in England managed through publicly-funded schemes.

Natural England plans to consult with stakeholders to develop clear guidance to accompany the maps.

The examples it has produced show all the fields covered by an existing agreement with different colours used for ELS, HLS and the original agri-environmental schemes.

The plan is to add in land once new agreements come into effect. If agreements end land would be removed.