Reclamation - Implications for Single Farm Payment

Do you have areas on your farm, which contribute to the landscape character and the wildlife value of the countryside? These semi-natural areas include woodland, scrub, wetlands, flower-rich meadows or moorland.  Archaeological features have a unique historic role in the countryside and provide an important link to the past. However, it is a requirement of Cross-Compliance that all semi-natural areas are retained and damage or reclamation is prohibited.

Cross-Compliance reinforces the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Uncultivated Land and Semi-Natural Areas) Regulations, which have applied to all farmers in Northern Ireland since February 2002. This means that anyone wishing to carry out an intensive agricultural activity or project such as drainage, cultivation or reseeding on uncultivated land and/or a semi-natural habitat must apply to Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) Environmental Policy Branch The telephone number is 028 9052 4326.

Farmers and landowners should note that anyone wishing to infill land with soil, hard core or other waste material, must apply to the Department of Environment (DOE), Planning Service, Special Studies Unit. The telephone number is 028 9041 6892.

For further information on Cross-Compliance refer to guidance given in the booklet ‘Cross-Compliance Verifiable Standards 2005 and 2006’ or contact Countryside Management Branch staff at your local DARD office.