Rural Development Policy 20072013: Business opportunities for young farmers to preserve the environm

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Rural Development Policy 2007-2013 Business
opportunities for young farmers to preserve the
environment countrysideThe future of Rural
Development Fresh opportunities for young
farmers A common approach for the European
territory?

• Václav Zámecník

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Why support farming?

• Farming is an unusual sector it creates not only
  environmental negative externalities, but also
  significant positive externalities
• Public goods (e.g. biodiversity, watershed and
  landscape services) have no market, so farmers
  have no incentive to supply them

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Our vision pay for the delivery of public goods

• Reward farmers for the delivery of public goods
  through a system of public payments
• Use legislation to guarantee a minimum level of
  environmental standards

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Our vision a broad agri-environment framework

• Legislative baseline (do no harm)
• Basic, meaningful AES available to all farmers
• Sophisticated AES targeting key areas, habitats
  and species
• Special support for Natura 2000 management

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Our Vision support HNV farming

• High nature value farming systems are vital for
  European biodiversity but are often economically
  marginalised and uncompetitive

• Solutions
• Use Rural Development investment aid to increase
  HNV farming competitiveness
• Target financial support at HNV farmers

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Agri-environment the results are there, but
could do better

• Our experience shows agri-environment schemes
  can deliver for biodiversity conservation, if
  schemes are well designed and implemented

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AES the good examples

• Castro Verde, Portugal
• Zonal AES implemented on the 60.000 ha Castro
  Verde SPA
• 22/ha - 108/ha to maintain traditional crop
  rotations and low grazing intensities, reduce
  pesticide inputs and keep winter stubble
• Great bustard national population increased from
  760 to over 1400 since 1996
• Population concentrated in Castro Verde increased
  from 50 to 80
• Elsewhere, 8 local populations went extinct and
  most others declined

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AES the good examples

• Cirl Bunting scheme, England
• Species saved from local extinction by
  implementation of a targeted AE scheme in its
  last stronghold area

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AES the good examples

• Restoration of wildlife
• habitats, Emilia-Romagna,
• Italy
• Up to 600/ha to restore and manage permanent and
  seasonal wetlands, grassland shrub mosaics on
  arable land
• Around 6.000 ha of habitat recreated by farmers
  on land withdrawn from cultivation
• Restored habitats now host significant
  populations of threatened species (e.g. bittern,
  spoon bill, ferruginous duck and marsh harrier)
• Almost the entire national population of
  whiskered tern breeds on AES plots

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Rural Development Policy 2007-2013 The Key Tool

• Axis 2 is focused on improving the environment
  and the countryside by means of support for land
  management
• Axis 2 contains key measures that can make a
  significant contribution to biodiversity
  conservation
• Many good tools for delivering targeted
  biodiversity enhancement in the countryside

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Agri-environment an integrated approach

• Broad and shallow schemes- benefits to
  biodiversity, landscape, water quality etc
  throughout the countryside
• Higher or specialised schemes targeting
  specific habitats and species

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Key elements for AES success

• Reward delivery of clear and specified public
  goods
• 2. Backed by sufficient budget to deliver their
  aims with competitive premiums available to
  any land manager who wishes to help wildlife
• 3. Design based on sound science and iterative
  process
• 4. Management required should be ergonomically
  feasible and practical

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Key elements for AES success

• 5. Clear targeting at the right areas, habitats
  and/or species
• 6. Impact is monitored and results fed into
  further design stages
• 7. Stakeholders, including farmers and
  environmental experts, are involved in all stages
• 8. Effective promotion, information, training and
  advisory services to support farmers in a way
  that produces economic and environmental benefits

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Natura 2000 heart of an AE approach to HNV
farmland

• Natura 2000 sites are priority areas for
  safeguarding HNV farmland, but voluntary approach
  to management insufficient
• Natura 2000 payments
• AES as stop gap where sites are not yet
  designated or lack mandatory management
  prescriptions

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Beyond agri-environment Rural Development

• Use Axis I to increase competitiveness of
  traditional HNV farming systems (quality and
  regional products, labelling, new outlets)
• Use Axis III to develop a new economy based on
  HNV farmland (tourism, recreation, environmental
  services)
• LEADER can be used to create RD packages around
  N2K sites

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The pitfalls

• Emphasis on competitiveness risks promoting
  intensification (drainage, irrigation,
  consolidation)
• Lack of awareness of biodiversity - from the
  planners to the people on the ground
• Temptation to use AES as top up payments for
  farmers
• Conflicting measures (afforestation, bio-energy)

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Future challenges paying for the positive
externalities of HNV farming

• Rewarding positive traditional management that is
  not economically viable
• Current AES system based on income forgone
  additional costs but not effective if farmers
  already have very low incomes or engaged in the
  right practices
• LFAs and direct payments maintain farmers in
  farming, but not in traditional management
  practices

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Future challenges Cross Compliance

• Need to establish a sound mandatory baseline for
  the AES pyramid
• Protection of HNV farmland against conversion
  (grassland to arable or permanent crops)
• Protection of landscape elements (hedgerows,
  isolated trees, ditches, stonewalls)
• Guarantee a minimum maintenance against scrub
  encroachment (but at right time and with the
  right practice)

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How is the current CAP delivering?

• Pillar I untargeted delivery of public good is
  more a question of chance than design
• Pillar II - targeted and explicit

Agri-environment and Natura 2000 schemes LFA
payments Afforestation Investments (Axis I III)
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Further down the road a new CAP

• Firmly based on the principle of public money
  for public goods
• EU budget debate we still need an European
  policy for farming, but a new policy to reflect
  changing demands and justify continued support
  for farmers
• Delivering true sustainable rural development
  helping create local economies based on the
  strengths of rural areas
• Transparency and accountability

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Thank you
Further information
http//www.birdlife.org/regional/europe/index.html