Making Environmental Stewardship More Effective (MESME)
MESME was a Defra-led project which aimed to improve the delivery of environmental outcomes from Environmental Stewardship (ES). The project was set up in response to various high profile reports which clearly concluded that ES was capable of delivering more and better environmental outcomes. It involved Natural England and stakeholders including NFU, CLA, CAAV, RSPB, TFA.
The approved MESME recommendations can be summarised as:
a) A package of Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) and Organic ELS (OELS) option changes available to new agreements with a start date on or after 1 January 2013. This package will enable applicants to gain more of their points through options of higher environmental value by:
Reducing the points gained for high uptake, lower-value options.
Revising some existing options.
Introducing new options.
Final approval of these changes by the European Commission is expected in the near future. Draft details are available here: (122kb)
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b) Trials of a package of further potential changes to run through 2012/13, to provide evidence for design of the next Rural Development programme.
c) Ongoing improvements to how we deliver ES, including improving our aftercare support for HLS agreements, making the most of existing scheme flexibility and enhancing the way Indicators of Success are developed and monitored.
In the mean time, if you have any questions about the changes to ELS options, please contact Natural England email: enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk.
