The alignment of agricultural and nature conservation policies in the European Union
Top Cited Papers
- 21 May 2015
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Conservation Biology
- Vol. 29 (4), 996-1005
- https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12531
Abstract
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.Keywords
This publication has 41 references indexed in Scilit:
- Ecosystem services and agriculture: tradeoffs and synergiesPhilosophical Transactions B, 2010
- An operational model for mainstreaming ecosystem services for implementationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Cross-border Comparison of Post-socialist Farmland Abandonment in the CarpathiansEcosystems, 2008
- Identifying and managing the conflicts between agriculture and biodiversity conservation in Europe–A reviewAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2008
- Quantifying the Benefits of Conservation Auctions Quantifier les avantages des enchères pour sélectionner les participants à des programmes de conservation Quantitative Bestimmung des Nutzens von Versteigerungen für UmweltschutzmaßnahmenEurochoices, 2007
- International Conservation Policy Delivers Benefits for Birds in EuropeScience, 2007
- Multifunctional agriculture: some consequences for international trade regimesEuropean Review of Agricultural Economics, 2002
- The nature conservation value of European traditional farming systemsEnvironmental Reviews, 2000
- Agri‐environmental Pelationships and the Choice of Policy MechanismThe World Economy, 2000
- THE BIRDS DIRECTIVE 15 YEARS LATER: A SURVEY OF THE CASE LAW AND A COMPARISON WITH THE HABITATS DIRECTIVEJournal of Environmental Law, 1994