What the action involves
This action’s aim is to control the population of invasive non-native American mink.
The purpose is to help increase the population of native threatened species, such as water voles and 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 carry out agreed levels of culling activity as set out in your species management plan.
Your Natural England adviser will monitor the effectiveness of control methods on the invasive non-native American mink population and if it’s successful, they may vary the duration of the action.
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:
- evidence of culling activity and cull numbers using the cull effort form, supported by photographs when requested
- any bank statements, receipted invoices, consents, or permissions connected with the work
Where you can do it
You can only do this action alongside waterbodies where invasive non-native American mink are present. Waterbodies include rivers, canals, ponds, lakes, drainage channels, ditches and wetlands with open areas of water.
You can only do this action if you have a species management plan agreed with Natural England.
You should do this action on the same land as a habitat creation or management action. You must get approval from your Natural England adviser to do this action if you’re not doing another habitat creation or management action on site.
Eligible land
You can do this action on land that’s:
- an eligible land type
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover
Available area
Not applicable as this is a linear action.
Rotational or static
This action is static. This means you must do it on the same location each year of the action’s duration.
Consents and permissions
To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- a species management plan agreed with Natural England (if your application includes woodland habitats)
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI)
- Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- to obtain the necessary consents from the Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) or Internal Drainage Board, before deploying mink rafts
You may need to:
- get advice from your Natural England adviser if you have other archaeological or historic features on your agreement land
- get a wildlife licence from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
All archaeological and historic features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).
If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.
Capital grants that support it
If you need to complete an implementation plan, species management plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for funding through capital grants plans funding.
You can also apply for capital items to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.
