Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS)

The Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) is the overarching government grant funding scheme for farmers, foresters, and land managers. It is based on the principle of public money for public goods and, unlike BPS, it will no longer require action for payment.

It is split into components that increase in complexity as you progress up the levels:

Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)

The most basic component of ELMS, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will financially reward farmers for employing environmentally sustainable land management practices. It will be split into different actions, with each action relating to different aspects of land and farming.

Landscape Recovery

Landscape Recovery is even bigger in scale and longer-term than Local Nature Recovery (sites from 500 ha to 5,000 ha and potentially involving 20-year agreements).

It will support more radical change to land use – for example by establishing nature reserves, restoring floodplains, or creating woodlands and wetlands. It is likely to involve a responsible body to monitor progress over time. Pilot schemes will be stablished this year, using two central themes (threatened native species recovery; and restoring waterbodies and improving water quality).

The Farming Investment Fund (FIF)

The Farming Investment Fund (FIF) is the strand of ELMS focussed on grants for capital expenditure, and it provides grants to enhance both farming productivity and the environment.

It comprises the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund and the Farming Transformation Fund.