BND2Maintain earth banks or stone-faced hedgebanks

What it actually is

The bank version of the wall action. An eligible bank is either a raised earth or turf-faced bank, or a raised earth bank faced with natural stone, the classic West Country hedgebank; it must stand distinct from the surrounding landform, form a land parcel boundary, run at least 20 metres, and be in good condition, continuous and complete, with the facing stones in place where the bank has them. The work is the same cycle as the walls: check the condition visually at least once a year, identify what needs repair, complete the repairs within 12 months, or by the action's end date where the need is identified in the final year, keep the built features, top stones, sheep creeps, stiles and stone gate posts, as they are, and keep dated written or photographic records of it all. GOV.UK's stated aim is banks maintained in good condition, managing livestock, providing habitat for the lichens, mosses, ferns and wildlife that live in them, and holding the landscape and historic features they are.

Source: GOV.UK, BND2 action page, checked 23/08/2026.

What it pays, and what that comes to

The rate is in the panel at the top of this page, per 100 metres, for one side of the bank. Multiplied out:

Source: arithmetic on the payment rate shown at the top of this page, which comes from Tilth's copy of the GOV.UK action catalogue and carries its own last-checked date. The lengths are illustrations, and entering both sides depends on both sides being yours to enter.

Is it worth it on your ground?

The same shape as BND1, at a smaller rate for a feature that weathers more slowly. Only banks already in good condition qualify, so the action pays for keeping, not mending what is already gone; the annual check and the record are the guaranteed work, and the repairs are whatever the years produce. An earth bank asks less than a wall most years, and a stone-faced hedgebank sits somewhere between the two, since faced stone slips the way walls do. The judgement is the same as the wall page's: the length entered is a three year promise of good condition at your own repair cost, so walk the doubtful lengths first.

Source: eligibility and requirements from GOV.UK, BND2 action page, checked 23/08/2026. The judgements are Tilth's own reading rather than scheme guidance.

Does it work, and what makes it work better

This section is what we have found in published sources about the practice this action pays for. It is not scheme guidance, it is not Defra's or the RPA's view, and it adds no requirement beyond what the GOV.UK action page sets out.

The same short answer as the walls: Conservation Evidence assess managing stone-faced hedge banks, for birds, and found no evidence, no studies quantitatively testing the practice, so they are unable to assess effectiveness or harm either way. GOV.UK's habitat claim for banks names lichens, mosses and ferns alongside wildlife, and the old stone face of a Cornish or Devon bank visibly carries exactly that flora; that is an observation about what banks are, not a measured study result, and we have found nothing scored to cite on it.

Source: Conservation Evidence, action 179, Manage stone-faced hedge banks to benefit birds, Bird Conservation synopsis, checked 23/08/2026. Cite as Williams et al. (2020), Bird Conservation, pages 137 to 281, in What Works in Conservation 2020, Open Book Publishers. The closing sentence is Tilth's own reading.

What you actually have to do

Check the condition of every entered bank visually at least once a year and identify repair needs. Carry out the necessary repairs within 12 months of identifying the need, or by this action's end date if the need is identified during the final year. Retain the existing features. Keep written or photographic records of what was found and what was done, with dates. Hold management control of the entered banks for the full three years, and enter lengths that match what is actually on the ground. Static, same banks throughout.

The page also asks you to try to avoid working in drought, extremely wet weather, frost, and windy spells where the bank is prone to wind-blow, and to delay work where there are signs of nesting birds, which with their nests and eggs are protected by law. Both of those sit in GOV.UK's advice section rather than in its requirements.

Source: GOV.UK, BND2 action page, checked 23/08/2026.

Where it can go

Banks meeting the definition, on land parcel boundaries, at least 20 metres, in good condition at entry. The compatibility is generous: in a land parcel with a boundary entered into BND2 the only SFI 2026 action you cannot also do is BND1, and that exclusion runs to the whole parcel, not just the length of bank. A hedge growing on an entered bank is the interesting case: CHRW2 manages the hedge and BND2 maintains the bank it stands on, and the GOV.UK combination rules are the place to confirm how your particular boundary is entered.

Source: GOV.UK, BND2 action page, checked 23/08/2026. The hedge-on-bank note is Tilth's own reading; check the combination rules for your case.

Things worth watching

This section is Tilth's own reading of where this action is easy to get wrong. It is not scheme guidance, it is not sourced from Defra or the RPA, and none of it adds a requirement beyond what the GOV.UK action page sets out.

Distinct from the landform is the definitional edge. A bank that has slumped into a gentle lynchet may no longer read as a raised bank at all. The definition asks for a structure, and the marginal lengths are the ones to leave out.

The nesting bird rule has teeth beyond the scheme. Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law, scheme or no scheme. A repair identified in spring may simply have to wait for the season to turn, and the 12 month repair window is long enough to let it, except in the final year, where GOV.UK's cut-off is the action's end date instead.

Weather is advice here, not a rule. GOV.UK asks you to try to avoid bank work during drought or extremely wet weather, in windy conditions in dry areas where the soil is prone to blow, and where there is a risk of frost damage. That is worded as advice rather than a requirement, and it is advice about the failure the action exists to prevent.

Measure the bank, not the map. The requirement to enter lengths that correspond to the ground is worth taking literally: banks wander, gaps subtract, and the paid length is the eligible length, not the parcel perimeter.

One side or two is a real question. The rate is per side, and entering both sides doubles the money where both sides are yours and both faces are in good condition. A bank on the farm boundary is likely to offer you one side only.

Keeping the evidence

Also Tilth's own reading. GOV.UK sets the requirements; what follows is a practical suggestion about record keeping.

As with the walls, the dated records are a requirement of the action itself. The same log serves: each bank's length and sides entered, the date checked, what was found, what was repaired and when, photographs before and after. Add a line for the weather on working days, since the working-conditions advice is otherwise invisible in a record.

Source: record requirements, GOV.UK, BND2 action page, checked 23/08/2026. The suggestion is Tilth's own.

The part only your own ground can answer

Which banks are truly in good condition, which faces are yours to enter, and which lengths you would promise three winters for: all walked questions. Tilth keeps the boundary log against the map, each bank drawn where it runs, with the dates and photographs pinned to it. Request an invite.