Bassenthwaite Habitats Delivery Plan 2011-16
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Bassenthwaite Vital Uplands - Ecosystem Services Pilot Project Bassenthwaite Habitats Delivery Plan 2011-16 The Delivery Plan sets out actions for the next 5 years which could maximise the provision of ecosystem services within the Bassenthwaite area. Bassenthwaite catchment provides a wide range of ecosystem services for people who live in and way beyond the area. These include food, timber, water provision, water quality, carbon storage and sequestration, flood regulation, recreation, tourism, education, historic environment, biodiversity and health benefits. As one of three national ecosystem services pilot projects, the Delivery Plan aims to demonstrate through integrated working with partners, farmers and other land managers, how multiple public benefits can be delivered at a catchment scale. Bassenthwaite Vital Uplands is part of the Bassenthwaite Lake Restoration Programme, with the Delivery Plan developed through workshops and individual meetings with partner organisations. Management actions to deliver ecosystem services were identified at a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) prioritisation workshop. Potential areas for the land management actions were mapped with reference to a broad range of existing map data (see Bassenthwaite Vital Uplands Baseline Document). Implementation of the Delivery Plan is dependent on the voluntary uptake of HLS and other funding by farmers and other land managers. Traditional livestock farming in this pilot area can provide many multiple benefits in addition to food. To deliver multiple benefits farmers need to be able to balance management for food production with HLS schemes providing wider benefits. As such the delivery of ecosystem services can only be achieved where it forms a part of economically viable farm businesses. Farmers‟ views on the provision of ecosystem services and how delivering these can be incorporated within their farming businesses, has been sought through a questionnaire jointly with the University of Cumbria (10% of all farmers in catchment responded) and two farmer workshops. These workshops provided farmer input to the Delivery Plan (see Appendix 2). Land Management Actions The Delivery Plan identifies two key land management actions that could improve the provision of ecosystem services in the pilot area: 1. increase woodland cover 2. achieve sustainable grazing 5 further land management actions have been identified to enhance the delivery of ecosystem services: 3. sustainable river management 4. restore Scheduled Monuments at Risk 5. improve access 6. manage nutrients on improved grassland 7. improve biodiversity of valley habitats Note: Deep and shallow peat areas have been used to identify blanket bog and upland heath areas. The condition of these habitats is not shown. 1 All 7 land management actions are detailed in Table 1. The management actions in the Delivery Plan also incorporate more specific targets from the following initiatives in the catchment, where Land Management Ecosystem Services and Benefits Partner Objectives these significantly enhance the provision of ecosystem services: Action River Restoration Strategy for River Derwent and Tributaries SSSI (Natural England/Environment Agency) Action 3 Scheduled Monuments at risk – recommendations to halt the decline (Lake District National Park Authority led) Action 4 Rights of Way Improvement Plan – implementation of selected improvements (Lake District National Park Authority led). Action 5 Diffuse Water Pollution Plan for River Derwent and Tributaries SSSI and Bassenthwaite Lake SAC (Natural England/Environment Agency) Action 6 SCaMP2 Catchment Sensitive Farming initiative (Natural England/Environment Agency) Action 6 Biodiversity Water quality Food and fibre Erosion Control te Change adaptation Water provision Heritage at Risk SSSI SSSI PSA target Flood Regulation les of Land Management Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) targets for valley habitats not addressed through other land spiration, education and Health management actions (Natural England plus biodiversity partners) Action 7 CumbriaBAP targets Clima Water Framework Directive Catchment Sensitive Farming Princip Carbon storage and sequestration Catchment Flood Management Plan Lake DistrictLake National Park Partnership Improved access to naturalenvironment Culturallandscape, historic environment Landscape Character Assessment targets Partnership Delivery Recreation, in Many partners have a vital role to play in delivering and supporting the actions in the Delivery Plan. 1. Increase Key partnerships are: Woodland x x x x x x x x x X X X X X X X X Bassenthwaite Lake Restoration Programme – actions to be embedded within 1 year and 5 Cover year business plans. 2. Achieve Sustainable x x x x x x x X X X X X X X X X Lake District National Park Partnership – proposal to embed actions within Partnership Plan Grazing which incorporates the actions of 26 partners. This plan and the partnership provide a clear 3. Sustainable framework for integrated delivery of ecosystem services in the Lake District National Park. River x x x x x X X X X X X X Lake District Environment Land Management Service (ELMS) - a delivery partnership for Management agri-environment agreements with farmers in the National Park. It coordinates the staff of 4. Restore Scheduled Natural England, Lake District National Park Authority, National Trust, RSPB and Forestry x x x x X X X X Monuments at Commission to provide a combined service for farmers. Risk Borrowdale Whole Valley Planning Group - a collaborative approach to land and community 5. Improve x x x x x x X X planning by farmers and other stakeholders. The group is currently focussed on short term Access solutions to river management but in the medium term aims to “develop a business model 6. Manage Nutrients on for farming which builds on the emerging market for water and carbon management; the x x x x x X X X X X need for national food security; and the recreation needs of the visiting community”. Improved Grassland 7. Improve Other delivery mechanisms/groups are detailed under the 7 management action descriptions, Biodiversity accompanying the maps, below. x x x x X X X X X X of Valley Habitats 2 Funding for Delivery Renewal Year of ESA Agreements Higher Level Stewardship – The majority of farms within the pilot area are in Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) schemes due to expire in 2012-13. This provides an opportunity for delivering ecosystem services through replacement by the multiple objective HLS. The Delivery Plan identifies those areas which could deliver the most ecosystem services. This informs the prioritisation of potential HLS agreements through the HLS planning pipeline. Numbers of agreements will depend on resources (both budget and staffing capacity) for HLS in future years. England Woodland Grant Scheme – Forestry Commission grants for creation and management of woodland including for biodiversity, resource protection and wood fuel. SCaMP2 – United Utilities (UU) Sustainable Catchment Management Plan, is providing additional private funding (on top of HLS) to tenant farmers on UU land in the Thirlmere catchment, for capital works to improve water quality, store carbon and enhance biodiversity. Future Funding Nurture Lakeland‟s Visitor Pay-Back Scheme – Visitor Pay-Back provides a mechanism through which tourism businesses and visitors can contribute to environmental projects. See Appendix 3 for Nurture Lakeland pilot work, with 35 businesses in the Bassenthwaite catchment, on how visitor pay-back could be developed and linked to payment for ecosystem services. Other Actions: Progress recommendations from Nurture Lakeland report to further develop the use of visitor pay-back linked to ecosystem services delivery (Natural England). Produce guidelines for woodland creation and the historic environment (Lake District National Park Authority). Provide Historic Environment advice for potential HLS agreements in Bassenthwaite catchment (Lake District National Park Authority). Develop recommendations for community and stakeholder engagement on catchment management to reduce downstream flooding; using findings of modelling woodland to reduce flooding in the Derwent catchment report (Natural England, Environment Agency, Cumbria Woodlands). 3 Action 1: Increase Woodland Cover ACTION 1: Increase Woodland Cover Target Area: 1140 ha, potential areas on bracken beds (600 ha), gills (100 ha), previous woodland sites and steep slopes with eroding soils. Specific and broader areas of search are shown on the map. The 1140 ha target for woodland creation could be achieved with 50% coverage in specific areas and 10% coverage on broader areas of search. WHY? Native woodland creation is a single action that can deliver multiple benefits for the future supply of ecosystem services, particularly carbon storage, reduced soil erosion and gravel supply from gills, improved water quality and wildlife. To achieve multiple benefits, the proposals are for creation of native broad leaf woodland with species selection based on soil type, position and ground vegetation. Planting with wide spacing and random clusters creates a seed source that supplements natural regeneration. Ecosystem Services: Water provision, timber, wood fuel, climate change regulation, flood regulation, erosion control, water quality, recreation (water based including angling), cultural heritage, sense of place, inspirational, spiritual and aesthetic values and biodiversity WHERE? Woodland planting is aimed at the least agriculturally important areas,