Institutional Options for the Conservation of Biodiversity: Evidence from the Czech Republic

The paper focuses on changes in property rights and policies regarding interactions between agriculture and nature in the Czech Republic. In the first part the recent situation is reviewed. The institutional and organisational features and their development during the transition and recent years are illustrated by the case study on the White Carpathian protected landscape area. The key issue in conservation in the White Carpathians (as in the number of other marginal areas) is to maintain grassland management at large scale. While environmental policy lacks measures for maintaining grassland management, respective incentives were launched in the frame of agricultural policy, although they do not sufficiently consider environmental concerns. There are two other problem areas hampering efficient organisation of conservation: uncompleted land reform and little involvement of local population in determining conservation priorities. In the second part, the paper examines three policy options for enhancing sustainability of landscape and biodiversity on farmland. The proposed policy options each reflect the identified problems in the White Carpathian case study.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Time to look for evidence : Results-based approach to biodiversity conservation on farmland in Europe

Increased use of annual payments to land managers for ecological outcomes indicates a growing interest in exploring the potential of this approach. In this viewpoint, we drew on the experiences of all schemes paying for biodiversity outcomes/results on agricultural land operating in the EU and EFTA countries with the aim of reviewing the decisive elements of the schemes' design and implementation as well as the challenges and opportunities of adopting a results-based approach. We analysed the characteristics of results-based schemes using evidence from peer-reviewed literature, technical reports, scheme practitioners and experts in agri-environment-climate policy. We developed a typology of the schemes and explored critical issues influencing the feasibility and performance of results-based schemes. The evidence to date shows that there are at least 11 advantages to the results-based approach not found in management-based schemes with similar objectives, dealing with environmental efficiency, farmers' participation and development of local biodiversity-based projects. Although results-based approaches have specific challenges at every stage of design and implementation, for many of these the existing schemes provide potential solutions. There is also some apprehension about trying a results-based approach in Mediterranean, central and eastern EU Member States. We conclude that there is clear potential to expand the approach in the European Union for the Rural Development programming period for 2021-2028. Nevertheless, evidence is needed about the approach's efficiency in delivering conservation outcomes in the long term, its additionality, impact on the knowledge and attitudes of land managers and society at large, development of ways of rewarding the achievement of actual results, as well as its potential for stimulating innovative grassroots solutions.Peer reviewe

Enhancing public benefits from EU Agriculture and Forestry: Transferable Methods for Success from Local Action

The PEGASUS project aimed to identify how to promote enhanced delivery of environmental and social benefits from farming and forestry, across the EU. After three years of investigation and analysis it has distilled a number of lessons for both policy and practice. Policy recommendations are focused upon national and European policy makers and in particular, consider ways to improve the environmental and social outcomes of the new CAP, beyond 2020. These are the subject of another deliverable from the project (D5.4). This deliverable, D5.3, provides a compendium of lessons for practitioners who are interested in seeking to enhance multiple benefits from farming and forestry, within a territory or along a supply chain. Learning from 34 case study examples around Europe (for a full list, see Table 4 in D5.1), and from validation of the case study findings with multiple stakeholders in national and EU-wide seminars and workshops, this report draws together a set of common principles and supporting methods to help local actors. It summarises the wide range of lessons from the project concerning transferable methods for the successful delivery of ‘Public and Ecosystem Goods And Services from farming and forestry; Unlocking Synergies’. It aims to provide a relatively comprehensive analysis of good practice for successful initiatives. Because it is derived from a very broad range of situations and contrasting types of experience, these lessons should be transferable to a wide variety of contexts in Europe

Enhancing public benefits from EU Agriculture and Forestry: Transferable Methods for Success from Local Action

The PEGASUS project aimed to identify how to promote enhanced delivery of environmental and social benefits from farming and forestry, across the EU. After three years of investigation and analysis it has distilled a number of lessons for both policy and practice. Policy recommendations are focused upon national and European policy makers and in particular, consider ways to improve the environmental and social outcomes of the new CAP, beyond 2020. These are the subject of another deliverable from the project (D5.4). This deliverable, D5.3, provides a compendium of lessons for practitioners who are interested in seeking to enhance multiple benefits from farming and forestry, within a territory or along a supply chain. Learning from 34 case study examples around Europe (for a full list, see Table 4 in D5.1), and from validation of the case study findings with multiple stakeholders in national and EU-wide seminars and workshops, this report draws together a set of common principles and supporting methods to help local actors. It summarises the wide range of lessons from the project concerning transferable methods for the successful delivery of ‘Public and Ecosystem Goods And Services from farming and forestry; Unlocking Synergies’. It aims to provide a relatively comprehensive analysis of good practice for successful initiatives. Because it is derived from a very broad range of situations and contrasting types of experience, these lessons should be transferable to a wide variety of contexts in Europe

Ekologické zemědělství, učebnice pro školy i praxi. I. díl. Základy EZ, agroenvironmentální aspekty a pěstování rostlin

První učebnice ekologického zemědělství v České republice. Obsahuje základy filosofie a praxe v ekologickém zemědělství, zaměřené na rostlinnou produkci a v samostatné kapitole informuje o biodynamickém zemědělství

The alignment of agricultural and nature conservation policies in the European Union.

Europe is a region of relatively high population density and productive agriculture subject to substantial government intervention under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Many habitats and species of high conservation interest have been created by the maintenance of agricultural practices over long periods. These practices are often no longer profitable, and nature conservation initiatives require government support to cover the cost for them to be continued. The CAP has been reformed both to reduce production of agricultural commodities at costs in excess of world prices and to establish incentives for landholders to adopt voluntary conservation measures. A separate nature conservation policy has established an extensive series of protected sites (Natura 2000) that has, as yet, failed to halt the loss of biodiversity. Additional broader scale approaches have been advocated for conservation in the wider landscape matrix, including the alignment of agricultural and nature conservation policies, which remains a challenge. Possibilities for alignment include further shifting of funds from general support for farmers toward targeted payments for biodiversity goals at larger scales and adoption of an ecosystem approach. The European response to the competing demands for land resources may offer lessons globally as demands on rural land increase.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available fromWiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cobi.1253

Assessing agro-ecological practices using a combination of three sustainability assessment tools

This paper is based on results from the research project UNISECO, which is funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 773901.We would like to thank all the farmers, farm organisations and stakeholders of the multi-actor platforms of the UNISECO project who contributed to the data collection. We also like to thank Andreas Basler whose corrections improved the comprehensibility of the paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Exploring Sustainability Implications of Transitions to Agroecology: a Transdisciplinary Perspective

Successful transitions to agroecology require shared understanding of the sustainability implications of transitions for food systems. To gain such understanding, a transdisciplinary approach is increasingly called for by funders, end users of research and scientists. Transdisciplinary processes were used in the UNISECO project to develop strategic pathways that enable transitions to agroecology in case studies across Europe. These strategic pathways were combined with scenarios of EU food systems in 2050, in which combinations of agroecological farming and food consumption practices were assessed. These were then reviewed considering selected UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a reference for discussing the sustainability implications of transitions to agroecology. Sustainability implications were identified for several SDGs including Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Quality Education (SDG 4), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Climate Action (SDG 13) and Life on Land (SDG 15). Key factors contributing to the sustainability of transitions to agroecology are: i) mature social capital and improved farmer knowledge of the benefits of agroecological practices; ii) strengthened collaborative actions and collective institutions to increase negotiating power within the value-chain; and, iii) changes in consumer behaviour and diets. These factors highlight the need for a food system perspective in transitions to agroecology and supporting policies. This in turn highlights the meaningful role of transdisciplinary research in strengthening the sustainability of European food systems

Review of Rural Development Instruments: DG Agri project 2006-G4-10. Final Report

The aim of the study was to review the policy instruments under the framework of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), 2007-13, by: • reviewing intervention rationales and instruments and their use against the objectives, priorities and key actions in the EU Strategic Guidelines; • assessing whether and how RD rationales and instruments should be adapted to deliver these more effectively. The study involved 8 tasks, grouped into 3 themes of analysis: 1) the targeting of EU-27 rural development expenditure, 2000-13, including the development of databases of EU-27 rural area characteristics and ‘indicators of need’ for RD; 2) consideration of the adequacy of the current EAFRD framework, based upon an evaluation of instruments’ cost-effectiveness; the a priori development of a typology of RD interventions and catalogue of instruments; an analysis of delivery mechanisms; and assessment of instruments in ‘fiches’; 3) conclusions and recommendations. In the event, progress in finalising national and/or regional RDPs 2007-13 was delayed,over the study period. Thus, the approach was modified to incorporate more qualitative analysis and the expenditure analysis was made using incomplete figures (July 2007), so 4% of total EAFRD planned expenditure was missing