The Terms and Conditions of the 2023 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes like the Area of Natural Constraint scheme (ANC) specifically covers the situation where there are no fences or physical boundaries present for reference parcels, as can be found in areas of upland.
"In circumstances where there is no clearly visible physical boundary on the imagery but where a boundary exists on the ground, then other reference sources can be provided by applicants to validate their requests, for example folio maps. This typically will arise in cases of unenclosed lands, particularly commonages, but also callow type land."
Therefore, from a BISS and ANC scheme compliance perspective the absence of fencing on commonage lands, where traditionally none have existed, is not deemed a compliance issue nor are there are scheme consequences where livestock subsequently leave the applicants lands due to the lack of fencing once the reference parcel boundary corresponds to a folio boundary or an administrative boundary.
In the case of the Organic Farming scheme, traditional owned unenclosed land is eligible for payment, but commonage lands are not eligible.
Under ACRES, area based actions are paid on eligible BISS areas. Participants in the ACRES General have a condition that ACRES General actions except for commonage must be chosen on enclosed lands. For ACRES Cooperation Project (CP) participants, as a substantial area of their land located within the Cooperation Project Zone would be traditionally unenclosed, there is no additional requirement to fence these CP forage lands to be eligible for ACRES CP results-based payments.
