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A CASE STUDY: ADOPTION OF BEST MANAGEMENT
PRACTICE IN BRITTANY (FRANCE) USING ECONOMIC
INSTRUMENTS AND REGULATION
P Newell Price 1 and M-L Daumer 2
1
ADAS, Gleadthorpe, Meden Vale, Mansfield, Notts, NG20 9PF, UK, E-mail: paul.
newell-price@adas.co.uk; 2 Cemagref, Livestock and Municipal Waste Management
Research Unit, 17 avenue de Cucille, CS 64427, 35044 Rennes Cedex, France
SUMMARY
French intensive livestock production has become increasingly concentrated
in Brittany over the past 40 years. This has resulted in a serious diffuse pollution
problem. Increasing nitrate concentrations in waters and eutrophication have
impacted on water treatment, the environment and tourism. To deal with this
situation, environmental regulations were introduced in 2001 at both a regional
and departmental level. Funding is now provided via the Agence de l’Eau and the
regional and departmental councils to help farmers improve water quality. This paper
uses the approach taken in Brittany as an example of how one European region has
attempted to reduce diffuse pollution through a combination of education, economic
instruments and regulation.
INTRODUCTION
After the introduction of the Nitrates Directive, EU member states were required
to implement a programme of measures to reverse the trend of increasing nitrate
concentrations in sensitive waters. The methods used to improve water quality vary
between countries, according to the specific nature of the problem and the degree
to which regulation and economic instruments are seen as acceptable means of
attempting to address this issue. This paper provides an overview of the approach
taken in Brittany (France) where regulation and economic instruments have been
used since 1994 to encourage farmers to adopt what are considered to be the best
management practices for the region.
CONTEXT
Only 5% of French agricultural land is in Brittany, but the region contains 55% of
French pig production and a large proportion of dairy and poultry production. This
concentration of livestock supports a food production and processing economy that
is vital to the prosperity and identity of the region (SCEES, 1995). However, such
intensification gives rise to a number of environmental and logistical problems. Large
quantities of animal feed are imported into the region but the livestock themselves
only retain a small proportion of the nutrients. As a result, in many instances the
amount of nutrients excreted by livestock is far greater than the amount required to
support crop growth at a farm or district level.
The intensification of livestock production in the Brittany region has also led to some
conflict with tourism (Merceron, 1999). For example, the increase in eutrophication
of surface waters and estuaries has been attributed to nutrient surplus (Figure 1).
This has been an area of particular concern, given the importance of bathing waters
and shellfisheries to the economy of the region.
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