Margaret Beckett, environment secretary said: "This is a real red-letter day for English farming. Every farmer can now be rewarded for protecting and enhancing the environment. With the wider CAP reforms, we are making good progress towards ensuring farming is truly sustainable.

"The more farmers that become involved, the greater the benefit to the environment. Reversing the long-term decline in farmland birds, for example, requires action to improve habitats over wide areas.

"Farmers will also be delighted to hear that the scheme has been designed so the application process is as straightforward as possible and those that wish to can apply over the internet.”

Andrew George, the Liberal Democrat agriculture spokesperson, said: "Defra must be receptive to sensible and practical advice so that teething problems could be avoided as much as possible.

"This scheme heralds a new era of farm support for farmers. Single Farm Payments mean that farm support will be increasingly transparent and I suspect that there will be growing public demand for even more obvious benefits and greater farmer compliance. So this is going to be a challenging time for many farmers."

Nick Collinson, conservation policy advisor, said: "The Woodland Trust welcomes the introduction of the new Environmental Stewardship Scheme. The Trust has worked together with Defra and other stakeholders to help create a scheme that will deliver benefits to the countryside, but particularly woodland and trees in the countryside.

"The Trust particularly welcomes Entry Level Stewardship (ELS). The scheme will be available to all farmers to deliver simple but effective land management beyond the basic good practice demanded by the cross compliance requirements of the new Single Payment Scheme. ELS will send a powerful message that in the future, the way farming is funded will increasingly be dependent on the protection, maintenance and enhancement of the countryside across whole landscapes.

"We are also particularly pleased that a full suite of woodland and in-field tree options has been created within Higher Level Stewardship (HLS). It is also very encouraging to see that woods and trees on farms will be eligible for support through HLS.

"This will greatly increase the number of farmers who can be engaged in positive action for woods and trees, than would ever be possible solely through the England Woodland Grant Scheme.

"Woodland options include the creation, restoration and management of woods, with tree options focussing on the protection of in-field and ancient trees on farms.

"The Woodland Trust hopes that the Environmental Stewardship Scheme will be a success and looks forward to working with Defra to ensure the scheme continues to deliver public benefits in enabling farmers to protect, enhance and maintain the countryside."

Stakeholder Response: Countryside Agency