high nature value farmland and traditional agricultural landscapes

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2 | Chapter 2: Paracchini et al. Figure 5. Alpine meadow (Rado Bonk) main threats that are widely identified for HNV systems are land abandonment and intensification, which lie at opposite extremes of the scale of intensity of management. When the level of management decreases and eventually stops, natural vegetation invades agricultural biotopes; this provokes a change of biodiversity characteristics, and in any case leads to the loss of semi-natural habitats that require some degree of human intervention for their survival. More intensive management also causes the disappearance of biodiverse agricultural habitats through a higher use of fertilisers (organic and inorganic) and pesticides, which cause a simplification of floristic diversity, and through the physical adaptation of the land to the use of heavy machinery (removal of hedges and other structural features, increasing field sizes). In addition, the change in the natural hydro-chemical cycle as a result of fertilisation, drainage and irrigation systems (De Rijck and Oikos 2006) can lead to soil salinisation, alkalinisation and desertification with consequent species loss (IUCN 2000). recenT Trends In hnV farMland The development of agriculture, the changes in socio-economic conditions throughout Europe and the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy have caused a general loss of High Nature Value farmland and associated landscapes, especially in the post-war period. To a certain extent a polarisation process started in those years, leading to intensification of farming practices on fertile soils and land abandonment in marginal areas. The CAP in particular is seen as a major driver of such processes, since it initially did not allow farmers compensation for the environmental services that they could provide. Only some decades later (in the early nineties) was environmental concern introduced into the CAP, and it now faces criticism that, within the EU15, HNV farmland areas often exist today despite the CAP rather than because of it (Jack 2006). It is in any case evident that such areas survived in environments less suited to intensification (marginal areas). Since there is no biodiversity monitoring scheme for agri-ecosystems, the analysis of past trends of HNV farmland cannot be carried out on the continental scale, but only at a local level, or on specific ecosystems, or through biodiversity indicators. Semi-natural grasslands are an important feature of European HNV farmland and are therefore often used as a reference habitat for monitoring HNV trends, since they host a considerable part of European agri-biodiversity. According to Beaufoy et al. (1994), in their analysis of nine European countries, more than half of low intensity farming is in fact constituted by grazing systems: this figure is even an underestimate for France, where almost 70% of HNV farmland comprises grazing systems (Paracchini et al. 2007). As already mentioned, a major part of these systems has already disappeared. Van Dijk (2001) estimated that in the UK 97% of lowland semi-natural grasslands has been lost since 1930, while in the Netherlands only 1.7% of the permanent grassland is semi-natural, and possibly less. Furthermore, in the New Member States an average of 26% (maximum 60%) of the semi-natural grassland is currently abandoned (IEEP et al. 2004). In Spain the construction of irrigation systems substantially transformed approximately 15,000 km 2 of low-intensity farmland in the period 1973-1996. As far as biodiversity indicators are concerned, bird data are also commonly used to detect trends in HNV farmland (van Strien et al, 2001; Gregory et al, 2005). The European Farmland Birds Indicator (Figure4a) shows a general decline in biodiversity of agricultural lands, more evident in the EU15. This can be related to both loss of farmland (due to e.g., urbanisation, or conversion to forest) and to changes in ecosystem conditions (intensification/abandonment). In this regard, the recovery in EU10 in the early nineties is generally related to a consistent drop in fertiliser/pesticide use following the political changes of 1989 (Figure 4b). However, it is difficult to relate this general trend strictly to High Nature Value farmland. Trends are more clearly interpretable when target species are analysed: for example, the corncrake (Crex crex) population in the UK declined by 86% in the period 1970-1993. One of the recognised factors causing such a sustained decline is the loss of traditional grassland habitat mosaics; especially tall vegetation throughout the breeding season. The corn bunting (Miliaria calandra) showed a 76% decline in the breeding population between 1968 and 1991 in the UK, caused by the loss of extensive mixed farming, while increased herbicide and fertiliser use has reduced the abundance of wildflower seeds and the availability of insects (UK Biodiversity Action Plan). The grey partridge (Perdix perdix) declined by over 50% between 1969-1990 in the UK and 30% in Western Pedroli B, Van Doorn A, De Blust G, Paracchini ML, Wascher D & Bunce F (Eds. 2007). Europe’s living landscapes. Essays on exploring our identity in the countryside. LANDSCAPE EUROPE / KNNV.
and Central Europe (Birdlife Europe), due to the loss of nest sites (such as hedge bottoms), resulting from farm intensification, and to reduced food supplies (including sources for chick food) caused by the use of pesticides and herbicides (UK Biodiversity Action Plan). polIcy fraMework The recording of such losses and a rising awareness of the urgent need to stop such trends have led to a recognition of the importance of High Nature Value farmland areas; not only from a scientific viewpoint, but at high levels in the political arena as well. In the Resolution on Biodiversity of the Pan European ministerial conference Environment for Europe in Kiev, May 2003 and the Message from Malahide, resulting from the EU Conference on Biodiversity in May 2004, the European Environment Ministers committed themselves to identifying high nature value farmland areas by 2006, and to have favourable management of a substantial proportion of it in place by 2008. In the Communication on ‘Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010’ (COM (2006) 216) the key actions identified include optimising the available resources under the reformed Common Agricultural Policy to, inter alea, prevent intensification and abandonment of High Nature Value farmland. The Community Strategic Guidelines for Rural Development (Axis 2) emphasises the preservation and development of high nature value farmland and forestry and traditional agricultural landscapes as one of the priority areas of Rural Development. Furthermore, HNV farmland is one of the agri-environmental indicators identified within the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (CMEF) for Rural Development, as well as in COM(2000)20: Indicators for the Integration of Environmental Concerns into the Common Agricultural Policy; and COM(2006)508: Development of agri-environmental indicators for monitoring the integration of environmental concerns into the common agricultural policy. This convergence of policy requirements has provoked some positive action in terms of HNV farmland mapping at the EU level, which tangibly started in 2003 with an initiative by the European Environment Agency. Figure 6. Extensive grazing in Southern Ireland (Markku Siitonen) Pedroli B, Van Doorn A, De Blust G, Paracchini ML, Wascher D & Bunce F (Eds. 2007). Europe’s living landscapes. Essays on exploring our identity in the countryside. Landscape Europe publication. | 25
Page 1 and 2: MarIa lUIsa paracchInI • Jean-MIc
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Page 13 and 14: eferences Altieri, M. A. 1990. Why

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