Environmental Stewardship is an agri-environment scheme run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England which aims to secure widespread environmental benefits. It was formally launched on 18 March 2005, although the first agreements did not start until 1 August 2005.
If Environment Stewardship is taken up across large areas of the countryside it will help to:
The scheme, which replaces the older Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Area schemes, is composed of two levels: the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS) for Organic farms, Upland Entry Level Stewardship (UELS) comprising the lower levels; and the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) for the upper level.