Transcript No Slide Title

High Nature Value
farming –
what are we trying to do?
Guy Beaufoy / Gwyn Jones
Galati
April 2008
The Forum is a European network of individuals and
organisations involved in farming and nature
conservation at local and EU levels. Here today are:
Gwyn Jones
Western Isles,
Scotland
Guy Beaufoy
Extremadura,
Spain
HNV farming favours biodiversity for
two main reasons:
• The type of land cover:
– Mainly semi-natural vegetation that is grazed or
mown (Type 1).
– May be mosaic of semi-natural vegetation with crops
(Type 2).
• The way the land cover is used:
– Always low intensity use of land, livestock,
machinery, chemical inputs
– May be high intensity use of labour
Type 1 HNV - grazing land in central Spain
Land cover:
Use:
semi-natural grass, scrub and woodland
grazing by cows and goats at <0.2 LU/ha
Natural values maintained by mountain grazing
Hedge-hog heaths
Hay meadows
Black vulture
Cytisus purgans formations
Nardus grasslands
HNV farming is low intensity farming, except in use of
labour, for example:
- shepherding, olive harvesting
Future landscape? Abandoned land and intensive fruit
production? Biodiversity declines.
Grazing marshes, Doñana National Park (Spain)
Grazed steppes, Llanos de Cáceres (Spain)
Type 2 HNV: cereal steppes, La Serena (western Spain)
Land cover:
Use:
mix of permanent pasture, arable crops, fallow
low-intensity sheep grazing and arable cropping
Possible HNV indicators:
>25% permanent pasture
>50% fallow
<0.2 LU/ ha
<1 tonne cereals / ha
Large-scale
mosaicbird
of low-intensity
crops,
Cereal steppe
communities
fallow and pasture
Montagu’s harrier
Great bustard
Sandgrouse
Mosaic of arable and permanent crops.
Semi-natural vegetation limited to small patches and
field margins. Fewer species.
Otis tetrax
No mosaic, cropping more intensive, not HNV
Low-intensity management
Livestock
Nitrogen
Biocides
HNV
Type 1
% of semi-natural
land cover
Grass, scrub
Trees
Field margins
Water bodies
Type 2
Diversity of
land cover
Crops
Fallows
Grass, scrub
Trees
Water bodies
Type 1:
100% semi-natural
Semi-natural vegetation
100%
Type 2:
Mix of semi-natural
and crops
Type 3:
More intensive crops
and grass
Not HNV
0%
Intensity of use (of land, livestock, nitrogen, biocides)
Not farming
Type 1
HNV
Type 2
Not HNV
EU and national commitments on
HNV farming
1. Identify HNV farming in each country.
2. Support HNV farming and its positive
function for biodiversity.
3. Monitor approximate extent of HNV
farming as one indicator of RD
Programme effects.
Identifying HNV farming (1)
• Describe main characteristics, in terms of
land cover and how it is used.
• Biodiversity values and relationship to
farming practices.
• Socio-economic situation:
– Is it viable?
– Can it be made viable?
– What support is needed?
Identifying HNV farming (2)
• Purpose of identifying HNV farming is:
– To know how many hectares HNV there are, for
monitoring over time
– To be able to target support at it.
• This means indicators must be defined to
distinguish HNV farming from non-HNV
farming.
• For example, proportion of land under seminatural vegetation, livestock densities…
Monitoring HNV farming
• EU requires all Member States to work
out total hectares of HNV farming.
• This should be monitored 2007-13.
• Suites of species associated with HNV
farmland should be monitored also.
• Data for these tasks are poor in all
countries, and should be improved.
Developing national
HNV farming
indicators
Decide indicators
for each HNV system
using the basic criteria:
1) % semi-natural vegetation
2) farming intensity
3) mosaic
HNV baseline quantity :
Calculate ha of farmland
meeting the chosen
indicator values.
Typology of broad HNV
farming systems, describing
characteristics (agronomic,
economic, conservation)
Local case studies
for ground-truthing
Identify suites of species
associated with each
HNV farming system
HNV baseline quality :
Status of
populations of
these species.
Maintaining HNV farming
• Aim is to support across large areas, not
just in protected sites.
• Two approaches are needed:
– Economic support for the broad types of
farming that have been identified as HNV.
For example, grazing <0.2LU / ha.
– Locally targeted schemes to tackle specific
problems (economic, agronomic,
conservation).
Developing HNV
support measures
Analyse economic
situation and support
needed to maintain
HNVfarming
Local case studies
for ground-truthing
Analyse conservation
needs for habitats and
species associated with
the farming system
National consultation
to develop suppport
measures for HNV
farming systems
National payment scheme
for broad farming types
meeting the chosen
HNV indicator values
Local projects with
farmers involved, to
tackle specific issues
(economic, agronomic,
conservation)
Outline of presentation:
• What is HNV farming and why is it
important?
• What do EU and national commitments
for HNV mean in practice?
Landscape diversity and species richness
Peeters A., 2006. Processus écologiques et agricoles dans une diversité de situations, synthèse scientifique.
Présentation au colloque Action publique, Agriculture et biodiversité, Rennes 23-25 octobre 2006
Olive grove in Córdoba (Spain), with semipermanent understorey, key for HNV
HNV landscape of olives and almonds (Córdoba)
Mosaic of olives groves and semi-natural patches
More intensive management of understorey
removes nature value
Recently abandoned olive grove, biodiversity reduced…
…and fire-risk increased - tree crops are quite
effective as fire-breaks
Small-scale mosaic with semi-natural elements