Your land, your choice: how Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier can work for farmers and land managers 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Farming, Natural England, Nature, Nature Recovery, wildlife and farming
English white park cow on a grassland restoration site near Hartington Peak District

By Dougal McNeill, Principal Officer, Agri-Environment Delivery, Natural England This blog explains and breaks down the role of Defra, RPA and NE in the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier process, while also discussing some of the benefits and challenges of the …

Modernising submissions for Protected Sites requests

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Natural England, Protected sites and species, Site of Special Scientific Interest

By Tracey Hill, Senior Officer - Sites , Nature and People Natural England is making it easier than ever to submit requests relating to protected sites. From 20 April 2026, we are introducing Defra Forms, a new online submission portal, …

The Bat Advice Service (BAS) – Reforming Natural England’s advice for householders 

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Development, Licensing, Natural England, Nature, Protected sites and species

15 April 2026: Blog update In the below blog we said that we were planning to move the Bat Advice Service (BAS) to an online system over the coming year. We want to deliver the best outcomes for both bats …