§ Mr. Andrew F. BennettTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about measures to prevent the over-grazing of moorland.
§ Mr. MacleanThere are no easy solutions to the problem of environmental over-grazing of moorland while maintaining the viability of upland farming so essential to the less-favoured areas (LFAs). The current national restrictions on payments of hill livestock compensatory allowances (HLCAs) of six ewes per hectare in the severely disadvantaged part of the LFA and nine ewes per hectare in the disadvantaged area serve to discourage over-grazing while the new EC limit confining HLCA payments to 1.4 livestock units per hectare will further limit the extent of the problem from January 1991. We are now considering whether the new EC legal provisions permitting member states to take account of environmental considerations in this scheme can be made more specific. Grants available to808W farmers through the farm and conservation grant scheme facilitate the regeneration of heather and payments under management agreements in the North Peak environmentally sensitive area are directed at the specific problems of moorland management.