HRW2 - Manage hedgerows
Payment
You’ll receive £13 per 100 metres for one side of an eligible hedgerow per year.
You can also apply for CS Capital Grants to help you manage the eligible hedgerows you do this action on, including hedgerow laying (BN5), hedgerow coppicing (BN7) and hedgerow gapping up (BN7).
Aim
This action’s aim is that you manage hedgerows so there’s a range of different heights and widths to provide:
- habitat for wildlife
- pollen, nectar and berries for mammals, birds and insects
Where You Can Do This Action
You can do this action on one side or both sides of an eligible hedgerow. Read section 4.1.3 to find out how we define an eligible hedgerow for SFI.
You’ll need to enter both sides of an eligible, fully-established hedgerow into this action if you’re managing it in a coppicing or laying rotation.
You can choose what total length of eligible hedgerows to enter into this action.
You cannot enter hedgerows into this action if they’re used for CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows), because this action pays for substantially the same actions as BE3.
Other Land Management Actions or Options You Can Do with HRW2
The table below sets out which other SFI actions, CS management options, ES revenue options and SFI pilot standards you can do in land parcels with eligible boundaries entered into HRW2.
Table 12: Actions or options that can be done with HRW2
| Scheme | Action or option codes that can be done with HRW2 |
|---|---|
| SFI 2023 | All SFI actions |
| CS | All CS management options, except BE3 (management of hedgerows) |
| ES | All ES revenue options, apart from boundary options |
| SFI pilot | All SFI pilot standards, except the SFI pilot hedgerows standard |
What to do
What you must do to manage the hedgerows entered into this action depends on whether they’re:
- fully established, which will usually be the case around 5 years after they’re planted
- newly planted, or not fully established
You must manage fully established hedgerows. You can choose which of the following management approaches to use on different fully established hedgerows in your SFI agreement:
- cut each hedgerow incrementally
- on a rotation, cut each hedgerow no more than once every 3 years, cutting no more than one third of hedges each year
- on a rotation, cut each hedgerow no more than once every 2 years, cutting no more than half the hedges each year
- managing them in a coppicing or laying rotation, which may mean they’re left uncut for the duration of your 3-year SFI agreement
If the hedgerows are newly planted, or not fully established, you must lightly trim them incrementally.
When to do it
If you’re cutting fully established hedgerows incrementally, you must do this each year of your 3-year SFI agreement during the autumn and winter months.
If you’re cutting fully established hedgerows on a rotation, you must cut each hedgerow no more than either:
- once every 3 years in during the autumn and winter months, cutting no more than one third of hedges each year
- once every 2 years in late winter, cutting no more than half of the hedges each year
These timings will usually mean:
- September, October and November for the autumn
- December, January and February for the winter
- January and February for late winter
Newly planted hedgerows, or hedgerows which are not fully established, must be lightly trimmed incrementally during the autumn and winter months. You must do this until they’re fully established.
How to do it
It’s up to you how you complete this action, as long as you do it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.
You may find it helpful to read the voluntary guidance on how to manage hedgerows, but you do not have to follow it.
What evidence to keep
You should keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action. This will help if it’s not clear that you’ve completed the action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim. You must supply this evidence if we ask for it.
This evidence could include photographs and other documentation to show what you’ve done to complete this action. If you choose to take photographs, read the guidance on how to take photographic evidence (annex A).
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: SFI Handbook for the SFI 2023 Offer