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THE RURAL STEWARDSHIP SCHEME

Section 2 General Environmental Conditions

If you fail to comply with any of the general environmental conditions, this will count as a breach of the Scheme rules and the Department may be required to withhold or reduce payments, or recover payments already made. The Department may also have to charge interest and, depending on the nature of the breach of the conditions may, in addition, have to apply a financial penalty. (See Part 1, Section 8 on breaches of Scheme rules).

2.1 On rough grazings, unimproved grassland, reverted improved grassland, machair and dune grassland, wetlands, water margins, and native, amenity or semi-natural woodlands, you should avoid damaging the conservation interest by not undertaking new drainage works, ploughing, clearing, levelling, re-seeding or cultivating and ensure that livestock are managed to avoid poaching.

Ploughing, cultivating and re-seeding results in the natural vegetation being destroyed and replaced with sown grasses. New drainage works, and modification of existing drains, cause lowering of the water table which results in the loss of wetland plant communities and their associated fauna. In nearly all areas of deep peat, re-cutting moorland grips will also be considered as damaging and should not be carried out.

2.2 You should not apply pesticides, lime or fertiliser (including farmyard manure and slurry) to rough grazings, unimproved pasture, reverted improved grassland, machair and dune grassland, wetlands, water margins, native, amenity or semi-natural woodlands and scrub.

This restriction is intended to protect the flora in areas where increased fertility would be detrimental to the maintenance of the existing diversity of the species which would also be threatened by the use of herbicides. Loss of diversity in the flora would also lead to a reduction in the associated fauna which could also be threatened by pesticides.

However, herbicides may be applied to control bracken, spear thistle, creeping or field thistle, curled dock, broadleaved dock, or ragwort and, with prior written approval from your local SERAD office, for the control of other plants.

Any herbicides used must be applied by either weed wiper, spot treatment, hand spraying, tractor mounted sprayers or, with the prior written approval of your local SERAD office, by other methods.

In the case of bracken, chemical control shall only be by means of Asulam or other chemicals approved, in writing, by your local SERAD office.

Exceptionally, and where there will be no damage to the conservation interest, lime or fertiliser including farmyard manure and slurry may be applied to any of the habitats mentioned above with the prior written approval of your local SERAD Office.

2.3 You should ensure that any injurious weeds to which the Weeds Act 1959 applies are controlled to prevent their spread and avoid the risk of damage to the conservation interest of any habitat or feature on the unit.

Injurious weeds are not only considered to be a potentially serious threat to agricultural production but, if allowed to spread into areas of conservation interest, may reduce the diversity of species within these sites and cause a deterioration in the value of the landscape. The Weeds Act applies to the following injurious weeds: Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare), Creeping or Field thistle (Cirsium arvense), Curled dock (Rumex crispus), Broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius) and Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). The Act empowers SERAD officials to serve notice requiring an occupier of land on which injurious weeds are growing to take action to prevent such weeds from spreading.

2.4 You should ensure that any muirburn shall be carried out in accordance with the guidance approved by Scottish Ministers.
A copy of the guidance is available from your local SERAD office.

When the Moorland Management Plan includes an annual programme of muirburning, you must ensure that the work is completed to a satisfactory standard.

2.5 You must avoid damaging or destroying any features or areas of historic or archaeological interest and follow Scottish Ministers' guidance for the protection of such features or areas.

The following points summarise the relevant guidance:

• Maintain existing grass or heather cover. When re-seeding avoid ploughing or other soil disturbance.
• Maintain grazing, but avoid erosion. Do not feed animals on ancient monuments.
• Do not plant trees or encourage regeneration within 20 metres of an ancient monument and avoid panbusting and subsoiling. Where an ancient monument is isolated within an arable field, do not plough it. Leave an unploughed buffer zone of 5 metres around it.
• Do not carry out new drainage on or near an ancient monument. Take great care to avoid new disturbance when maintaining existing drains.
• Where rabbit control is carried out avoid ground disturbance.
• Do not permit peat cutting, quarrying, dumping or storing of any material to occur on the site of an ancient monument.
• Do not erect fences or other structures or create access tracks within 10 metres of an ancient monument. Avoid the use of wheeled or tracked vehicles on or near ancient monuments.
• Do not allow the use of metal detectors on ancient monuments or remove any archaeological finds. Report any finds or new features to Historic Scotland, the local authority archaeologist or the local museum.

2.6 You should follow the guidance approved by Scottish Ministers for the avoidance of pollution.

The Code of Good Practice for the Prevention of Environmental Pollution from Agricultural Activity (PEPFAA Code) is a practical Guide on the avoidance of pollution. It covers the main agricultural activities which can give rise to pollution and describes some of the management practices which will help you to avoid, or at least minimise, the risk of causing pollution while enabling economic agricultural practice to continue. Copies of the PEPFAA Code are available from your local SERAD Office. In addition, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has produced short leaflets on some of the individual subjects covered by the PEPFAA Code. These are also available from your local SERAD office.

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