Countryside Stewardship: get funding to protect and improve the land you manage
What farmers, foresters and land managers need to know and do before applying for a Countryside Stewardship grant, and how to manage a grant agreement.
About Countryside Stewardship
Countryside Stewardship (CS) provides financial incentives for farmers, foresters and land managers to look after and improve the environment.
CS protects and enhances the natural environment by:
- increasing biodiversity
- improving habitat
- expanding woodland areas
- improving water quality
- improving air quality
- improving natural flood management
CS supports Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan ‘for our country to be the healthiest, most beautiful place in the world to live, work and bring up a family’. It also supports Defra’s strategic objective of ‘a cleaner, healthier environment, benefitting people and the economy’.
Countryside Stewardship grants for 2023
CS is made up of 8 grants (when they are all open). The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) manages CS agreements.
You can transfer land parcels and BPS entitlements for 2023 until 15 May 2023, using the Rural Payments service.
You can also add land by email.
Search the CS grant finder for a description and essential requirements for each capital item or revenue option.
Capital Grants
The Capital Grants scheme is part of Mid Tier. It provides 3-year agreements offering capital items to achieve specific environmental benefits in 4 groups:
- boundaries, trees and orchards
- water quality
- air quality
- natural flood management
You can apply for CS Capital Grants 2023 at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.
Farmers taking part in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) can also apply for the Capital Grants scheme on land which is not being used for the SFI pilot or SFI.
SFI pilot participants can apply for the CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) 2023 at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.