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Agriculture & plant conservation in Europe
Almost half of Europe’s landscape is farmed.
Farming methods are one of the most important routes towards conserving or destroying Europe’s diversity of plant species. The rapid and widespread decline of arable plant species under intensive farming methods is a major conservation concern for wild plants and all the birds and insects which they support. The abandonment or conversion of grassland areas is one of the most pressing threats to the diversity of wild plants in Europe.
A large proportion of Europe’s wild plants and up to 75% of butterfly species rely on extensively managed grassland areas for their survival. Tackling these issues within the reformed EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and through initiatives like the pan-European High Nature Value (HNV) Farmland programmes will be a key arena where the EU and European nations succeed or fail in their target to halt biodiversity loss.
EU CAP Reform
There is widespread recognition that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in its current form has done much to increase biodiversity loss across Europe. Many organisations are currently campaigning to see a truly reformed CAP (2013-2020) which conserves biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides, supports rural communities to maintain High Nature Value Farmland and improve the richness of other farmland, and provides healthy landscapes for all.
High Nature Value HNV Farmland
Several initiatives are underway to map areas of biodiversity rich farmland, mainly in more traditional, extensive agricultural systems in pockets across Europe, and to target resources towards supporting communities that farm these areas. Plantlife International has signed up to an NGO proposal outlining a fundamental reorganisation in agricultural subsidies that will support High Nature Value Farming. Click here for more details.