Land use / practice changes - Nutrient neutrality private mitigations

As the name suggests it encompasses various changes to the land-use or practices. It can include but is not limited to:

• Practice changes such as adding cover crops to reduce bare soil erosion during winter or even cessation of intensive fertiliser/organic material inputs to farmland
• Land use changes from intensive agricultural to more natural systems

Please note for a land use change scheme, the agricultural/farming site must be a site with existing planning permission. In addition, land use change requires land to be restored or managed not just taken out of production. An example of this would be rewilding of the land or reversion to woodland or other semi-natural habitats.

• Biodiversity enhancement
• Carbon sequestration
• Natural flood management
• Supports pollination
• Of aesthetic value
• Opportunities for recreational activities

• Needs to be implemented at large scale for wider benefits

1. Phosphorus
2. Nitrogen
3. Sediments

• Acts as a net carbon sink

• Dependent on the change. Uses that require use of vegetation will need it to become established
• Due to legacy P in soils it will take time for soil to reach background p levels

• Maintenance of vegetation required for some systems

• Performance can be kept at optimum with well a well-established maintenance schedule for vegetation based changes
• Performance can fluctuate with seasonal changes
• Some land use changes can provide lasting impacts. For example, cessation of intensive fertilisation

This is dependent on the type of scheme and if it involves a land use or practice change.

For both these systems:

• Extensive modelling of nutrients and systems is required, including sources and concentrations of nutrients. It must take into account P legacy in soils

Must take into account climate factors and climate change, such as droughts and dry weather, or water gains from rainfall, etc. as well seasonal dynamics and differences in flows through different seasons.

D, Cordell; B, Jacobs; A, Anderson; M, Camargo-Valero; D, Doody; K, Forber; C, Lyon; E, Mackay; R, Marshall; J, Martin-Ortega; L, May; M, Okumah; S, Rothwell; S, Shahvi; E, Sherry; B, Spears; P, Withers. (2022). UK Phosphorus Transformation Strategy: Towards a circular UK food system. RePhoKUs project.

Paul J A Withers, S. A. (2022). Re-focusing Phosphorus use in the Wye Catchment. RePhoKUs PROJECT REPORT.

Ricardo for Herefordshire Council. (2021). Interim Phosphate Delivery Plan Stage 2, Mitigation options for phosphate removal in the Wye Catchment. 

The RePhoKUs Project. (n.d.). Written evidence statement to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee on river water quality from the RePHOKUs Project. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/40668/pdf/