FG1: Fencing Grant

About this grant

FG1: Fencing is a capital grant item that funds the installation of new fencing to control livestock and protect environmental features on agricultural land. The grant pays £6.34 per metre of fencing installed. This item supports environmental management by helping to protect, recover and improve biodiversity on land, controlling livestock to protect environmental features, managing habitats, preventing water pollution caused by farming, and protecting features such as newly planted trees, buffer strips and field corners taken out of management. The fencing can be used alongside habitat management, restoration or creation actions, or to protect environmental features in various contexts including woodland management and agroforestry schemes.

Eligibility

Applicants must be participating in either Countryside Stewardship Capital Grants 2026, Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT), Woodland Tree Health grants, or Higher Tier Capital Grants. The fencing cannot be used on sites where a fence has received a grant in the last 7 years. Use is restricted on historic sites including scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, and Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (SHINE) sites, which require written approval from Historic England or local authority historic environment advisers respectively. The fencing must be used for specific purposes such as alongside habitat management actions, to prevent water pollution from farming, to protect environmental features, or as part of woodland or agroforestry schemes with appropriate approvals.

Key requirements

• ✓Fencing must support eligible environmental or conservation outcomes (habitat protection, land management, or biodiversity goals)
• ✓Applicant must meet Natural England's eligibility criteria for the specific scheme or programme
• ✓Project must align with Natural England's environmental priorities and land-management objectives

Frequently asked questions

Who can apply for FG1: Fencing?

Eligibility covers organisations in GB; nonprofit, charity, local-authority, community-group. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Biodiversity funding backs habitat restoration, species protection, protected areas and nature-positive business. It comes from environment agencies, multilateral nature funds and conservation philanthropy, often through competitive calls with defined regions. Applicants are usually asked for baseline surveys, local partners and indicators that show ecological change.