CGS18: Manage species-rich floodplain meadows
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-10)

What you must do to get paid for this CSHT action and advice on how to do it.

This action is part of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). You must read the CSHT guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-csht) before you apply.

Duration

5 years

How much you’ll be paid

£1,070 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is to manage species rich floodplain meadows with:
- appropriate conditions to allow natural seasonal flooding to occur. This means flooding that occurs without the use of control structures such as sluices and hatches to regulate water
- a good cover of flowering grasses and wildflowers from late spring and during the summer months, including at least 1 frequently occurring and 3 occasionally occurring ‘indicator’ species typical of a species-rich floodplain meadow
- suitable sward heights and structure for a species-rich floodplain meadow by autumn
- enough flowering grasses and wildflowers left to go to seed to maintain or increase the presence and abundance of ‘indicator’ plant species typical of a species-rich floodplain meadow
- appropriate scrub and rush cover for a species-rich floodplain meadow
- any historic or archaeological features protected from damage
The purpose of this is to:
- maintain or increase floodplain meadow habitats which support wildlife and biodiversity
- provide valuable space for floodwaters
- create potential for carbon capture and increased climate resilience
- contribute to protecting valued landscapes and archaeology
You can use this action to manage:
- existing floodplain meadows
- floodplain meadows being restored or created
Where you can do this action

You can do this action on eligible land that is all of the following:
- located below the moorland line
- in the floodplain (usually identified as flood zones 2 or 3 on the Environment Agency’s Flood map for planning (https://flood-map-for-planning.service.gov.uk/)
- on land that naturally floods or that can be allowed to flood naturally
The land must also be one of the following:
- permanent grassland that is existing lowland meadow priority habitat – it does not need to be mapped on the Priority Habitat Inventory
- arable land, temporary grassland or permanent grassland that has a high or medium potential for restoration or creation of species rich floodplain meadows
If you’re restoring or creating a species rich floodplain meadow, you will need a restoration or creation plan. This could be done through either an implementation plan or feasibility study (as agreed with your Natural England adviser).

Your restoration or creation plan must include:
- a map showing where restoration (from permanent grassland to grassland habitat) or creation (from arable or temporary grassland to grassland habitat) will take place
- soil analysis results including the soil available phosphorus (Olsen P method) and the soil potassium status. Soil analysis must have been carried out within the last year.
Eligible land

You can do this action on land that’s :
- an eligible land type
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-use-codes-rural-payments) which is compatible with the eligible land cover
Available area you can enter into this action

Total or part of the available area in the land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This action is static. This means you must do it on the same location each year of the action’s duration.

What to do

Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.

To get paid for this action, you must:
- maintain, restore, or establish a mix of high value indicator plants typical of the floodplain meadow priority habitat – some indicator species will be frequent or occasional across the site, as set out in your agreement
- maintain or restore the appropriate hydrology to allow flood water to flow naturally onto and off the field
- maintain existing infrastructure including culverts, pipes, grips and ditches to allow floodwater to return to a watercourse
- take an annual hay cut after 15 June (or a date agreed with your Natural England adviser), which must be field dried, turned or tedded, baled and removed – hay making may not be needed in the first years of a creation project
- remove livestock for at least 8 continuous weeks during the spring and summer before taking the hay cut
- graze the aftermath or take a second hay cut
- manage injurious weeds and invasive non-native species by cutting, hand pulling and grazing, or using methods agreed with your Natural England adviser
- protect historic and archaeological features
The advice you’re given by Natural England is specific to your land which means (where relevant) you may also need to:
- restrict topping to areas and time periods in your agreement
- control scrub, rushes and other competitive plant species to achieve the right vegetation conditions
- remove livestock at certain times of the year outside of the shut-up period
- maintain a continuous grass sward or vegetation cover over historic and archaeological features and prevent additional scrub encroachment on historic or archaeological features
- establish additional plant species agreed with your Natural England adviser
- carry out plant species surveys to monitor the habitat
- take and record dipwell readings to monitor the site wetness
- follow an agreed wildfowling strategy and record bag returns
You must not:
- apply any inorganic fertilisers, digestate or other industrial by-product including paper waste – the application of organic fertiliser will be limited to 6 tonnes per hectare of farmyard manure but only in years when the land has not flooded in the previous winter
- work on ditches between April and August – this may also apply to surface water features
- plough, cultivate or reseed, unless this is part of an agreed sward creation and enhancement plan
- supplementary feed except for the use of mineral blocks or other types of feed agreed with your adviser
- take any actions to retain water on site artificially or to disconnect the site from its adjacent water course (unless agreed with your Natural England) adviser
- harrow, roll or supplementary feed on historic or archaeological features
- carry out mechanical operations or other activities that may cause significant disturbance to birds during the breeding season or the autumn and winter (this does not include ditch maintenance)
- carry out land management activities in a way that causes poaching or overgrazing
When to do it

You must do this action each year of its duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.

You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:
- records of field operations
- photographs
Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action

You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action.

Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:
- CSHT actions: CWT3, CHRW4
- SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2, WBD10
- SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
- CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
Consents, permissions and licensing requirements

To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- to agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser if you’re restoring or creating floodplain meadows
- Scheduled Monument Consent (https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/planning/consents/smc/) from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protected-areas-sites-of-special-scientific-interest#get-consent-to-carry-out-operations-on-your-land)
You may need to:
- obtain any necessary consents from the Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) or Internal Drainage Board (IDB) before starting work involving hydrological features
- get a wildlife licence (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wildlife-licences) from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
- get advice from your Natural England adviser if you have other archaeological or historic features on land in your agreement
All archaeological and historic features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).

If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.

Capital grants to support this action

If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for capital grants plans funding (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders#capital-grants-plans).

You can also [apply for capital items] (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders) to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.

Advice to help you do this action

The following optional advice may help you to do this action. Your agreement document will set out all the activities you must do.

Choosing a site

A Natural England adviser will help identify if you have species rich floodplain meadow habitat or land that is suitable for the creation or restoration of floodplain meadow habitat.

Species-rich floodplain meadow is a grassland habitat that is maintained by hay making normally combined with aftermath grazing. At least 2 of the following apply (or will apply after the meadow is restored or created):
- 12 or more plant species are present per 2 square metres (including, but not exclusively, indicator species for lowland (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/species-rich-grassland-indicator-species)
more than 30% cover of wildflowers and sedges (excluding white clover, creeping buttercup and injurious weeds)
- less than 10% cover of white clover and perennial rye grass
Creating and restoring floodplain meadows

Land with medium to high potential for restoration or creation will ideally have:
- plant species indicating priority grassland in poor condition
- low soil fertility with a P Index within the range 0 to 2 (extractable phosphate levels in the range 5 to 25mg/l)
- soil pH greater than or equal to 5.5
- non-compacted soils
- a soil profile indicating fluctuating water levels
- suitable hydrological conditions
- management capability for hay making and aftermath grazing (or a second hay cut if grazing is not an option)
- few weeds like black-grass, couch grass or creeping thistle, and not be dominated by aggressive species like white clover, ryegrass, creeping buttercup and Yorkshire fog
You can create or restore floodplain meadows by introducing wildflower seed using:
- GR1: Create or restore grassland habitat
- GR3: Floristically enhanced seed mix for grassland habitat
Capital items are also available for other activities such as removing scrub and restoring natural hydrological function.

The Floodplain Meadows Partnership provides guidance that may help manage, create or restore floodplain meadows (https://www.floodplainmeadows.org.uk/advice/meadow-how-to).

Assessing indicator species in species-rich floodplain meadow grassland (species survey)

You will need to assess the frequency of floodplain meadow indicator species to see if you can meet this action’s aim.

The simplest way to assess species frequency in a habitat is to carry out a W-shaped (or other representative) walk across it.

Stop at regular intervals or random points along the way. Look at the vegetation within the 2 square metres in front of you and note which indicator species are present.

Stopping 10 times will be enough to assess most sites . For very large areas of similar vegetation, you may need 20 stops.

You can record the location of each stop for future reference and comparison using a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) device.

A species is:
- frequent if it occurs in 5 or more stops out of 10
- occasional if it occurs in 3 or 4 stops out of 10
- rare if it occurs in 1 or 2 stops out of 10
High Value Indicator Plants for species rich floodplain meadows

Species rich floodplain meadows generally have at least 6 high value indicator species for lowland (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/species-rich-grassland-indicator-species) meadow priority habitat. There should be at least 1 priority floodplain meadow indicator species which occurs ‘frequently’, and at least 3 from the remainder of the list, which occur ‘occasionally’.

Plants are usually in flower during May and June.

If your grassland is not typical, your Natural England adviser will adapt this advice to your site.

Managing weeds, scrub and rushes

Control injurious weeds and nettles to meet the requirements set out in your agreement. They are food sources for invertebrates and birds but can smother wildflowers if allowed to spread.

Rushes occur naturally in some floodplain meadows and jointed rush species can usually be controlled by grazing with cattle. Some rush species (particularly soft and hard rush) can smother wildflowers and reduce the grazing quality of grassland. More than 10% cover of rush can indicate an underlying issue with soil, water or grazing management.

Manage hedges and scrub to prevent encroachment on to the meadow.

Using herbicides

The use of herbicides is not recommended. If your agreement allows you to apply herbicides, make sure they are only applied to the target weed species by spot spraying.

Managing water levels

Allow floodwater to flow on to and off the land naturally. Maintain ditches, drains and gutters as this allows water to drain after a flood event. Retaining water on the site will prevent beneficial management from taking place.

Responding to climate change

Read Natural England’s publication: ‘Adaptation for habitats in Environmental Land Management Schemes’ (https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/5673659512127488) to help you consider your general response to climate change. You must continue to follow the mandatory activities for this CSHT action.