AHW12: Manage woodland edges on arable land

This action’s aim is that there’s an uncultivated, naturally regenerated strip of scrub and grass mosaic developing between arable land and woodland. The purpose of this is to provide woodland edge habitat for birds, invertebrates, small mammals and other wildlife.

What you must do

You must allow a naturally regenerated scrub and grass mosaic strip to develop that’s:

• n arable land, adjacent to the edge of an existing woodland
• up to 6m wide (on average in each land parcel) – it can be more than 6m wide, but you’ll only be paid for the 6m width

You must maintain the strip in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must not:

• apply any fertilisers, manures or lime
• apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, or nettles
• carry out supplementary feeding in a way that causes poaching on the woodland edge
• cut or cultivate the strip in a way that means this action’s aim cannot reasonably be achieved

You can maintain an existing woodland strip to get paid for this action if it:

• meets this action’s requirements
• is not already being paid for under another environmental land management scheme option, such as Countryside Stewardship option WD3 (woodland edges on arable land)

How to do this action

It’s up to you how you do this action, as long as you:

• follow this action’s requirements – these are identified by a ‘must’
• do the action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim

You may find it helpful to read the ‘advice to help you do this action’, but it’s not part of this action’s requirements.

When to do it

You must:

• allow the woodland edge strip to develop within 12 months of this action’s start date
• maintain the woodland edge strip throughout each subsequent 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.

Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action.

Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action. For example, winter cover followed by a summer companion crop. Read ‘What to do’ and ‘When to do it’ to find out when this action must be done.

Scheme Action or option codes OFC3, OFC4, OFM4, OFM5, AGF1, AGF2, CIPM1, CNUM1, SFI 2024 actions CSAM1

SFI 2023 actions IPM1, NUM1, SAM1

CS options OR3, OR4, OT3, OT4

ES options No ES revenue options SFI pilot No area-based SFI pilot standards standards

If an action or option cannot be located on the same area, you may be able to do it on a different area in the same land parcel. Read section 6 ‘Eligible land in other funding schemes’ in the SFI scheme information for more details.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:

• SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2
• SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
• CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
• the introductory level of the SFI pilot hedgerows standard