Value of set-aside to farmland birds and identification of potential mitigation measures
This study, to be conducted by the British Trust for Ornithology, will provide information on the value of set-aside land to birds in summer and winter compared to conventional cropped land and land under Environmental Stewardship (ES) agreements. It will also identify mitigation measures and modelling to provide estimates of the areas (of those measures) needed to compensate for loss of set-aside.
Following peer review additional analysis on the mitigation measures needed to compensate for the loss of set-aside is underway. These results are now expected March 2009.
Single Payment System
This will provide definitive information on the area set-aside and will provide almost complete coverage at a high spatial resolution.
By matching against the previous year's field level dataset, it will also be possible to classify the land to rotational or non-rotational set-aside.
Provisional data expected early 2009
Further analysis assessing the botanical interest of set aside and other uncropped land
This additional analysis of the botanical survey data, including soil samples will provide further evidence to recommend criteria for identifying areas of high botanical interest.
Results expected March 2009
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