Farmer Nature Reporting Process Guidance

Guidance for farms in England with a Single Business Identifier (SBI)

Create a FREE Land App account.

If you are already have a Land App account you will need to create a new map in your Land App account (guidance here). ENSURE you follow the correct naming structure for your map “FarmName_Surname_SupplierName”.
If you have created a new account we automatically take you into a new map called New Map - Please ensure you change the name to be “FarmName_Surname_SupplierName”, this guidance shows how.
Create your Field Parcel Boundaries for your holding by importing your field parcel data using a Single Business Identifier. Ensure you import the data into the Basic payment Scheme (BPS) template. Select New in the top left of your map, Import data, Import from Rural Payments, input your SBI and your dataset as Land Covers. Select the Basic payment Scheme template and name the plan “BPS_FarmName_SupplierName”.
For any arable areas or those shwoing as just areas please assign any relevant uses. This guidance shows how.
Translate your BPS Plan to UK Habitat using “Duplicate” to the “Baseline Habitat Assessment V2” template (guidance here). ENSURE you follow the correct naming structure “BHA_FarmName_SupplierName”. If your RPA Data is missing parcels, you can draw new features using the “Area” tool (guidance here) or by adding fields from the Land Registry “Data Layer” details on how here.
Increase the accuracy of your baseline by:
1. Changing the habitats by assigning a different land use to your fields (guidance here).
2. Adding more detailed features to the map including linear features such as hedgerows (guidance here), drawing field corner or plots such as wildflower patches, scrub or bird cover (guidance here) and creating margins or buffers (guidance here).
[STEP NOT ESSENTIAL FOR ALL PROJECTS] If you would like to/or are required to also create a Land Management Plan, you will need to create a new plan (guidance here) and select the “Land Management Plan V2” template. You can then copy fields where you are planning land management changes to this plan (guidance here) and edit and assign habitats to these features using the same tools as for you Baseline Habitat Assessment. ENSURE you follow the correct naming structure “LMP_FarmName_SupplierName”.

Once you are happy with your plans, you can share the maps with the required Nature Reporting Organisation instructions on how located here.

Guidance for farms without a Single Business Identifier (SBI) in Wales or Scotland

Create a FREE Land App Account through: https://go.thelandapp.com/register
Create a new map in your Land App account (guidance here). ENSURE you follow the correct naming structure for your map “FarmName_Surname_SupplierName”.
Download your Field Parcel data from Rural Payments Wales (guidance here) or from Rural Payments Scotland (guidance here) and then use this web page to create your initial Baseline Habitat Assessment which will be sent to you as a file to download.
Import your Baseline Habitat Assessment file using the Import Data feature in Land App (guidance here). ENSURE you import the data to the “Baseline Habitat Assessment V2” template and ENSURE you follow the correct naming structure “BHA_FarmName_SupplierName”. If your map is missing parcels, you can draw new features using the “Area” tool (guidance here).
Increase the accuracy of your baseline by:
1. Changing the habitats by assigning a different land use to your fields (guidance here).
2. Adding more detailed features to the map including linear features such as hedgerows (guidance here), drawing field corner or plots such as wildflower patches, scrub or bird cover (guidance here) and creating margins or buffers (guidance here).
[STEP NOT ESSENTIAL FOR ALL PROJECTS] If you would like to/required to also create a Land Management Plan, you will need to create a new plan (guidance here) and select the “Land Management Plan V2” template. You can then copy fields where you are planning land management changes to this plan (guidance here) and edit and assign habitats to these features using the same tools as for you Baseline Habitat Assessment. ENSURE you follow the correct naming structure “LMP_FarmName_SupplierName”.
Once you are happy with your plans, you can share the maps with the required Nature Reporting Organisation (guidance here).

Adding field parcels to your farm plan from the Land Registry data layer

Select the relevant Land Registry layer from the Data Layers dropdown menu in Land App. The Land Registry layers are under the Ownership section as shown below.

Once you have the Land Registry layer displayed, zoom into the relevant land parcel(s) that you would like to add to your farm plan.

Select the Land Registry parcel by left clicking on the red polygon (you can select more than one polygon by holding shift whilst you left click)

Now right click on the required field parcels and select “Copy to plan”

Select the plan that you would like to copy these features to from the list provided and click “Copy features to plan” to complete the action.

The additional fields will now be added to your plan ready for you to edit as required.

Sharing your farm plans with an organisation for Nature Reporting

If you have been asked to share your farm plans with an organisation for Nature Reporting you can now do this through Land App’s brand-new Nature Reporting features.

Important: In order to share Nature Reporting data, you must have at least one plan mapped through the “Baseline Habitat Assessment” template. This baseline map is essential to Nature Reporting.

Once you are ready to share your Baseline Habitat Assessment (and potentially your Land Management Plan), click on the Nature Reporting (leaf) icon at the top of your map.

You will be taken to the Nature Reporting section of your account. Here you will need to add some basic information about your farm

And then select the plans you wish to share for Nature Reporting by clicking the “Select Baseline” button, ticking the checkbox besides your desired plan, and then selecting “Submit”.

Note: if you do not see any plans in the check list, it is likely that you have not created any plans in the required template. If this is the case, return to your map and follow the steps to create a “Baseline Habitat Assessment” (or, if you are adding one, a “Land Management Plan”).

Once you have added your “Farm Details” and selected at least one “Baseline Habitat Assessment” Plan, you will be able to click “Publish”.

Note: if the “Publish” button remains greyed out you have not added some required information to one of the above sections.

After clicking “Publish” you will be asked to fill in some information about which organisation you wish to share your data with, your produce type and processor (you can select more than one produce type and processor if required).

You have completed the process when you see the summary of your shared data in the “Publish” section (see screenshot below).

You can share your Plans with as many organisations as required and will receive a confirmation when your Published Plans have been accepted by the Organisation you are being asked to share with.

You can choose to “Edit” or “Stop sharing” your data at any time by clicking the “Review” link and selecting the required option.