Investigating the incidental benefits of Environmental Stewardship schemes in England

The direct benefits of Environmental Stewardship (ES) schemes are well documented in the academic policy literature and include an increase in the stock and quality of field boundaries and associated wildlife; adaptation to climate change; landscape enhancement; improvements in farm soil and water quality and protection of the historic and natural environment. It is argued that the incidental benefits of ES schemes, which capture those benefits to the wider economy and society beyond the scheme's original remit, are as yet poorly understood and insufficiently recognised in current policy evaluation criteria. This paper describes research which has systematically addressed this evidence gap through the application of sub-regional economic models to capture the direct, indirect and induced effects of a variety of ES schemes beyond the farm gate. Findings reveal the sub-regional income and employment effects of such schemes to be significant, in particular for those schemes rewarding higher standards of environmental management. The implications of the findings for ES policy, its evaluation and rural development are discussed.

► Incidental benefits of Environmental Stewardship schemes in England are significant.
► Higher-level schemes have the greatest sub-regional income and employment multipliers.
► Policy evaluation should attempt to recognise and capture the incidental benefits of agri-environment schemes.