This action’s aim is that there’s a well-managed, intact grass sward or vegetation throughout the year which:
- covers an historic or archaeological feature
- has minimal bare ground, scrub, bracken or pernicious weeds
The purpose of this is to:
- protect historic and archaeological features
- help maintain and conserve landscape character
What you must do
You must manage the area containing the historic or archaeological feature in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim. This includes:
- maintaining a continuous grass sward or vegetation cover
- minimising bare ground, scrub, bracken and pernicious weeds
You must not:
- plough, cultivate, re-seed, harrow or roll the grassland
- carry out supplementary feeding on or within around 6 metres (m) of the historic or archaeological feature
- locate vehicle or stock access routes within around 6m of the historic or archaeological feature (existing surfaced tracks can be used)
Before you remove scrub or trees, you must get any relevant consents, permissions or licences. For example, you may need to apply for:
- a felling licence from the Forestry Commission
- a forestry environmental impact assessment (EIA) from the Forestry Commission
- an agriculture EIA ‘screening decision’ from Natural England
Read section 10 ‘Get any regulatory consents before you do your SFI actions’ in the SFI26 scheme information.
When to do it
You must do this action from its start date, throughout each year of this action’s 3-year duration.
Where you can do it
You can do this action on agricultural land that’s:
- identified on your SFI Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER) as containing an historic or archaeological feature – you must get an SFI HEFER before you apply for this action
- an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1.1 ‘Eligible land types’ in the SFI26 scheme information)
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code that’s compatible with the eligible land cover
You cannot do this action on land parcels of more than 15ha above the moorland line.
Rotational or static
This action is static. This means you must do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration.
Evidence to keep
You must keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as:
- field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices
- photographs or other documentation
If it’s not clear that you’ve done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, we may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if we ask for it.
