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NATURRÅDET / TEMARAPPORT / NATUR OG LANDBRUG
66
NATURE AND FARMING
IN A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
Heino von Meyer , consultant, Germany
The Message
With the Amsterdam Treaty, sustainable development
has become a key objective of the
European Union (EU). For nature conservation
and agriculture this means that a new approach
to rural development is needed, since rural areas
cover three quarters of the land, and since agricultural
policy is one of the most important EU
policies, at least in budget terms. Although being
a European and even a global concern, practical
answers to the challenge of sustainable development
can only be found through the encouragement
of local/regional action on the ground.
Age n d a 2000 is a first step in the right direction,
but further, more courageous steps are required.
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is not an environmental
policy objective alone. It requires balancing economic,
social and environmental concerns. The
latter cannot be considered as a matter of natural
science only. Environmental quality is not just an
issue of ecological integrity. Cultural identity
must be taken into account, too. Environmental
o b j e c t ives cannot be derived from scientific measurement.
They require valuation based on cultural
perceptions and societal preferences. With respect
to agriculture and rural development these are presently
undergoing fundamental changes, but also
nature conservation has to reconsider its concepts
and approaches (Figure 1).
Integration
Integration, the balancing of economic, social
and environmental trade-offs and the identification
of potential “win-win”-settings that could
result in positive synergies, is a highly political
c h a l l e n ge. Organising such democratic public
choices requires careful analysis also of the institutional
structures and procedures of governmental
and non-governmental policy fo r m u l a t i o n
and implementation. In a rural development context
integration requires an approach that is territorial
(locally based and area specific), multisectoral
and multi-functional (reaching beyond
traditional perspectives of farming), dynamic
( d r iven by longer-term considerations), and democratic
(relying on participation and partnership in
policy design and implementation).
Territorial approach
The need for a territorial approach to sustainable
development is increasingly recognised, not least
by the OECD, which has recently launched a
new Ac t iv i ty on Territorial Indicators. A fe w
results from this work may illustrate the need fo r
greater sensitiv i ty to spatial div e r s i ty (OECD 1996).
Of the total OECD population, 40% live in highly
urbanised regions, which cover only 4% of the
OECD’s land area. At the other extreme, 85% of
the surface is occupied by only 28% of the OECD
population. The remaining third of the population
is concentrated on 10% of the land area. From
these simple numbers it is obvious, that the economic,
social and environmental challenges to sustainable
development are not evenly spread.
Territorial div e r s i ty needs to be taken into account,
both in development analysis as well as in policy
design and implementation (Figure 2).
Rural employment
Agriculture is no longer the driving force of rural
development. Its economic and social importance
is decreasing more and more. In most vil-
• Heino von Meyer is Head of PRO RU RAL EUROPE research and consultancy, Hamburg. He works for international organisations
such as the OECD and the EU Commission as well as for local initiatives and environmental NGOs.