Catalogue description Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Nitrate Sensitive Areas Scheme (NSA Series)

The Nitrate Sensitive Areas Scheme, operates in 32 selected areas in England under the EC agri-environment measures. It was closed to further new entrants in 1998 following the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, although existing agreements will continue for their full term. This voluntary scheme compensates farmers for significantly changing their farming practices to help protect valuable supplies of drinking water. The 32 Nitrate Sensitive Areas cover approximately 35,000 hectares of eligible agricultural land.

This scheme has now been integrated within the England Rural Development Programme which is administered by Natural England. It is now covered by Nitrate Vulnerable Zones which is a conservation designation of the Environment Agency for areas of land that drain into nitrate polluted waters, or waters which could become polluted by nitrates. Nitrate Vulnerable Zones were introduced by the UK government in response to the EU mandate that all EU countries must reduce the nitrate in drinking water to a maximum of 50mg/1. The Nitrate Vulnerable Zones covered large areas of land that had been identified as exceeding or being at risk of exceeding 50mg/NO3/1