The James Hutton Institute
This page is no longer updated. The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute joined forces with SCRI on 1 April 2011 to create The James Hutton Institute.
THE STATE OF SCOTLAND'S FARMED ENVIRONMENT 2005
21. ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREA SCHEME AND COUNTRYSIDE PREMIUM SCHEME
This section summarises the Countryside Premium Scheme (CPS) and the Environmentally Area (ESA) Scheme. Agri-environment schemes have operated in Scotland since 1987. The Environmentally Sensitive Areas Schemes (ESAs) were first introduced in 1987 followed by the introduction of the Organic Aid Scheme in 1994 and the Countryside Premium Scheme (CPS) 1997. By the end of the year 2000, all ESAs and the CPS closed to new applications and the Rural Stewardship Scheme has been introduced in 2001 as their successor.
The ESA Scheme is assessed in more detail than the CPS because of comprehensive monitoring information available. The CPS extended the ESA Scheme to the rest of Scotland but with some refinements to the aims and implementation, effectively acting as a pilot for the Rural Stewardship Scheme. As the CPS monitoring data have not been available, yet, comments are therefore confined to a brief review of the effects of uptake. Following a separate description and assessment of the aims, implementation and uptake of the ESA Scheme and CPS, a brief evaluation is provided focusing on the ESA Scheme.
Some of the information presented in this section is based on the results of the monitoring of the ESAs carried out by the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Countryside Premium Scheme >>