Environmental Land Management Payments Methodology

Tender description

The new ELM system will be the cornerstone of our agricultural and environmental policies in England. The system will help the Government to deliver its manifesto commitment to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than it inherited, as set out in the recently published 25 Year Environment Plan. Farming and forestry cover 80% of land in the UK. Farmers and foresters are therefore crucial to achieving the goals set out in the recently published 25 Year Environment Plan (see Annex supporting documents). It is currently envisaged that all land managers who can deliver environmental benefits will be able to participate in ELM. The new ELM system will help to preserve the investment in our countryside that has already been made and delivered by farmers and foresters involved in past agri-environment schemes, and to enhance this further. The new system will pay land managers for delivering environmentally beneficial outcomes; it will provide support for farmers, foresters and other land managers as we move towards a more effective application of the 'polluter pays' principle. The objective of this work is to identify and explore the most suitable options for a payment methodology to be used for England's new Environmental Land Management (ELM) system, to be launched in January 2024. The payment methodology and rates will be applied to a National Pilot, which is to launch in 2021. The Pilot will allow the Government to review and refine the methodology ahead of the launch of the ELM system in 2024. The payment methodology will be the framework for setting payments for land managers, and specifically refers to the methodology for calculating the payment rates offered for environmental outcomes achieved by land managers.