What the action involves
This action’s aim is that livestock grazing on moorland is managed to avoid impacting habitats which are sensitive to damage from grazing, wherever possible.
The purpose of this is to:
- protect and improve habitats for birds, mammals and insects
- reduce bare ground and soil erosion
- improve water quality
- protect historic and archaeological features
What you must do
You must remove all livestock, except resident ponies, from land entered into this action for at least 6 consecutive calendar months.
‘Resident ponies’ means ponies which are traditionally kept on the moorland, such as Dartmoor and Exmoor ponies.
When the livestock are on the moorland, you must take reasonable steps to minimise their access to ‘sensitive features’ by:
- shepherding or herding them away
- using temporary fencing if that’s possible
Sensitive features are areas on the moorland that can easily be damaged by grazing or poaching caused by livestock. They include:
- bare ground, peat soils, gullies and steep slopes
- vegetation on wet peaty areas – such as blanket bog, wet heath, upland flushes, fens and swamps
- woody vegetation – such as fragmented heath, mountain heath and willow scrub, dry heath, long degenerate heather, deciduous woodland, and scrub
- grassy vegetation – such as upland calcareous grassland, limestone pavement, purple moor-grass, rush pasture and Calaminarian grassland
- historic or archaeological features, including scheduled monuments – these are identified on your SFI HEFER
You must not carry out supplementary feeding of livestock on land entered into this action, apart from mineral licks. If you provide mineral licks, you must locate them on areas away from sensitive features.
At the start of each year of this action’s duration, you must produce a written stocking and shepherding calendar for each land parcel entered into this action.
The stocking and shepherding calendar must show how you plan to meet this action’s requirements, including:
- land parcel reference number and hectarage
- all the sensitive features you’ve identified in each land parcel – you can use the moorland survey completed for MOR1 or CMOR1 to show this, if it identifies sensitive features
- monthly numbers of livestock which will graze the land parcel, including their type and age bracket
- dates you plan to remove livestock and return them to the moorland
- shepherding or herding activities you plan to carry out when the livestock are on the moorland to avoid damaging the identified sensitive features
If you manage several adjacent land parcels as one grazing unit, you can keep one stocking and shepherding calendar for that grazing unit. You must include all the land parcel reference numbers which comprise that grazing unit.
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 do this action from its start date, throughout each year of its 3-year duration.
Evidence to keep
You must keep the required written stocking and shepherding record and supply this evidence if we ask for it. It can be recorded on paper or electronically.
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
SFI 2024 actions HEF5, UPL1, UPL2, UPL3, CMOR1
SFI 2023 actions MOR1
CS options HS4
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 one of the following supplemental actions on land entered into this action:
- SPM4: Keep native breeds on extensively managed habitats supplement (50- 80%)
- SPM5: Keep native breeds on extensively managed habitats supplement (more than 80%)
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
Where you can do it
You can do this action on land located above the moorland line that’s:
- an Eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’ in the SFI scheme information)
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover
If a land parcel is located above and below the moorland line, you can enter it into this action if:
- most of the area is above the moorland line
- it’s managed as one grazing unit with adjacent land parcels located above the moorland line
Farmyards or land used for turf or peat production are not eligible for this action.
Eligible land type Eligible land cover Compatible land use code
Permanent grassland Permanent grassland PG01
Relevant non- Non-agricultural areas, Relevant non-agricultural agricultural land cover, such as scrub, scree, land use code to match land such as scrub, scree, bracken and bog cover bracken or bog
Protected land
Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs): Eligible – you must get SSSI consent before you do this action. Read section 10.3 ‘SSSI consent’ in the SFI scheme information to find out about:
- what it’s advisable for you to do before you apply for this action on SSSI land
- how to give notice to Natural England to get SSSI consent
- what stocking and shepherding information you need to provide with your
SSSI notice
Historic and archaeological features: Eligible – you must get a SFI HEFER before you do this action (read section 5.6 ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’ in the SFI scheme information to find out how to do this).
Available area you enter into this action Total available area in a land parcel.
Rotational or static
This action is static. This means you must do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration.