Agri Environment Schemes (AES) and other funding opportunities

Agri Environment Schemes (AES) are managed separately across Scotland, Wales and England. We have trawled the information available on current schemes and have highlighted below those relevant to People’s Trust for Endangered Species’ key species – hedgehogs, dormice and water voles. We also suggest a number of other grant schemes which may offer opportunities. 

Jump to Scotland, Wales and England. 

Scotland

Agri Environment Climate Scheme (AECS)

Full guidance to the scheme can be found here. Availability – currently closed for application. It will reopen in 2026. Date to be confirmed. The scheme offers: 

• annual payments for management options (ongoing costs) 
• payments for capital costs (implementation of specific projects)

Capital costs that are specifically beneficial to hedgehogs include:

• Planting or Replanting of Hedges 
• Laying of Hedges 
• Coppicing of Hedges 
• Creation of Beetlebanks 
• Creation of Grass Strips and Water Margins in Arable Fields 

There are many management options relevant to hedgehogs and farmland habitat and they are divided into different farming types. Please refer to the to Helping Hedgehogs on Your Land – Landowner Advice Leaflet for information about different management options that benefit hedgehogs. Below are some of the key options to consider:  

• Management or Restoration of Hedgerows 
• Creation of Hedgerows 
• Habitat Mosaic Management 
• Managing Scrub of Conservation Value 

Other funding sources in Scotland

The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) – this fund will fund a range of habitat creation and restoration projects throughout  Scotland. Examples of projects supported by the NRF can be found here. 

Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENS) – landscape scale partnerships between farmers and businesses, providing funding for regenerative farming. There are geographically defined projects throughout the UK. Check their website to see if there is a suitable location.  

Wales

Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS)

Full guidance to the scheme can be found here.  Availability – this is a new scheme and will open for applications in March 2026, closing in May 2026. Dates to be confirmed. The scheme will consist of:

• The Universal Layer – this is made up of a range of actions designed to protect soils, biodiversity and habitats, trees, and landscape features. This layer requires that a minimum of 10% of the land is managed as habitat to benefit biodiversity.  
• The Optional Layer – this is made up of a variety of optional actions grouped into 14 themes. Themes that are specifically beneficial to hedgehogs include: 
  • improved soil health and multispecies crop cover 
  • enhanced habitat management 
  • creation of permanent and temporary habitats 
  • hedgerow creation and restoration   
• The Collaborative Layer – this is made up of various themes. The theme that is likely to be most beneficial to hedgehogs is collaborative landscape scale activity, working together to connect habitats at a landscape scale can potentially be extremely good for hedgehogs. 

England

Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) targeted at farming productively, but in a way that benefits the environment.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)

Full guidance to the scheme can be found here. Availability – currently closed for application. It will reopen in 2026. Exact dates to be confirmed. However, there will be two SFI application windows in 2026 for different applicants. The first window, in June, will be for farmers with small farms and those without existing land management agreements. The second window, in September, will be open to all farmers.

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) pays farmers and land managers to take up or maintain sustainable farming and land management practices that:  

• protect and benefit the environment  
• support food production  
• improve productivity  

Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier (CSMT)

Scheme closed. Current agreements will be extended to December 2026 to enable transition to SFI.

Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) 

Guidance to the scheme can be found here. Availability – now open for applications by invitation only. You will be invited to apply if you have an existing CSHT agreement that ends in 2025 or later. CSHT pays farmers and land managers to manage land in a way that:

• protects, restores or enhances the environment 
• mitigates the effects of climate change 

Farming in Protected Landscapes (FIPL) 

Full guidance to the scheme can be found here. Availability – open for applications until March 2026 or until all funding is allocated. FIPL offers funding to farmers and land managers in National Landscapes (previously known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs)), National Parks and the Broads. Projects should be discussed with the appropriate protected landscape body before submission. It provides grants to: 

• support nature recovery 
• mitigate the impacts of climate change 
• provide opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage 
• protect or improve the quality and character of the landscape or place 

Capital Grants

Guidance to the grants can be found here. Availability – currently closed. When the scheme reopens there is a short window for applications as it is always oversubscribed. Capital grants can stand alone or can support the work being undertaken for an AES. They are three year agreements that support specific environmental targets:  

• air quality
• assessments 
• boundaries, trees and orchards 
• improvements, for example education access visits 
• natural flood management 
• water quality 

Other funding sources in England

Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENS) – landscape scale partnerships between farmers and businesses, providing funding for regenerative farming.  There are geographically defined projects throughout the UK.  Check their website to see if there is a suitable location.  

Environmental Farmers Groups – a cooperative group of farmers delivering positive environmental change at a landscape-scale, funded through natural capital trading. Geographically defined with more areas coming on board.