CGS20: Manage wet grassland for breeding waders

This action’s aim is that there’s wet grassland with:

• in-field wet areas, including standing water and bare and muddy areas, during the wader breeding season and the autumn and winter months
• suitable sward heights and structure for the priority breeding wader bird species on your land (or likely to use your land) to nest during their breeding season
• appropriate rush cover for the priority breeding wader species on your land (or likely to use your land)
• any historic or archaeological features protected from damage
• a good cover and range of flowering grasses and wildflowers from late spring and during the summer months if your land is priority habitat species-rich grassland

The purpose of this is to:

• provide suitable wet grassland nesting and feeding habitat for priority breeding wader species including lapwing, redshank, curlew and snipe so they can, in most years, successfully fledge their young
• support other species such as wintering wildfowl
• support other features such as historic or archaeological features, sites, ditches of high environmental value and areas of species-rich wet grassland

You can use this action to manage existing grassland or grassland that’s being restored or created for breeding waders.

What you must do

Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.

To get paid for this action, you must:

• maintain or restore the appropriate hydrology and provide wet conditions for priority wading birds during their breeding season
• manage ditch water levels so they are high enough to provide standing water and muddy areas that are free from tall vegetation – you can apply for CWT3: Manage ditches of high environmental value to pay for this
• make sure there are areas of standing water and wet features during autumn and winter
• provide the correct vegetation height and structure for target wading birds during the breeding season (typically late March to June for lapwing and redshank and April to July for curlew and late July for snipe) – you can do this usually by grazing but sometimes by cutting or topping
• carry out appropriate management to protect historic and archaeological features
• keep boundary hedges short – you’ll agree the exact height with your adviser and stated in your agreement document

The advice you’re given from Natural England is specific to your land which means (where relevant) you may also need to:

• maintain wet features, including scrapes and gutters, to provide muddy areas for waders and wildfowl to feed – you can apply for CSP11: Manage scrapes and gutters supplement to pay for this
• keep scrapes and gutters wet using water control structures
• keep vegetation around scrapes and gutters short with some taller tussocks
• remove livestock at certain times of the year
• reduce the risk of nests being trampled by grazing with a low stocking density and carefully managing livestock during the wader breeding season
• follow a stocking calendar which includes stock type and minimum and maximum stocking rates each month
• restrict topping to areas and time periods set out in your agreement
• control scrub, rushes and other tall or competitive plant species to achieve the right vegetation conditions for target birds
• maintain or restore a mix of high value indicator plants if the grassland is a species-rich priority habitat – some indicator species must be frequent or occasional across the site (as set out in your agreement)
• establish additional plant species if agreed with your Natural England adviser
• follow an agreed wildfowling strategy and record bag returns

You must not:

• apply fertilisers or farmyard manure (unless agreed with your Natural England adviser)
• apply any other manures, digestate or any other industrial by-product including paper waste
• apply pesticides – you may be able to use herbicides to spot-treat or weed-wipe for the control of injurious weeds, invasive non-native plant species, nettles or other plants if this has been agreed with your Natural England adviser
• supplementary feed except for the use of mineral blocks or other forms of feed agreed by your Natural England adviser
• carry out mechanical operations or other activities that may cause significant disturbance to birds during the breeding season or the autumn and winter (this does not include ditch maintenance)
• work on ditches between April and August – this may also apply to surface water features
• harrow, roll, supplementary feed or allow bare soil on historic or archaeological features
• allow additional scrub to encroach on archaeological or historic features
• plough, cultivate or reseed, unless this is part of an agreed sward creation or enhancement plan
• carry out drainage works without written permission from your Natural England adviser
• carry out land management activities in a way that causes poaching or overgrazing

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.

You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:

• records of field operations at parcel level
• photographs