Protocol to achieve the environmental objectives of the CAP

The new protocol to meet the environmental objectives of the CAP is here, Mario Díaz and Elena D. Concepción present in their study a protocol for the design and evaluation of measures to improve the Common Agricultural Policy, which is applied in Europe. They have established explicit objectives based on the problems detected in each area, and they propose a protocol that can evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the measures based on the results.

The new reform of the CAP has included mandatory measures to ensure that its financial aid only reaches those who cultivate following rules that protect biodiversity, since, until 2014, the CAP based its efforts on ensuring an agriculture compatible with biodiversity based on voluntary contracts with interested farmers.

Decision-making in five stages

1. Segmentation of conservation measures:

This entails the clear definition of conservation objectives, that is, what we intend to preserve: populations of threatened species, species-rich communities, ecosystem services related to biodiversity.

2. Consideration of field-scale and landscape-scale goal requirements:

Establishment of the elements or traits at the field, landscape or habitat scale required by the objectives (for example, hedgerows, fallow land, open uncultivated areas, perennial crops, etc.)

3. Consideration of landscape scale limitations under a functional approach:

Definition of regional levels of landscape complexity. Evaluations with landscape metrics and threshold values derived from basic theory or empirical studies according to the regional context and the specific requirements of the objectives.

4. Adaptation of policy instruments to the limitations of regional landscapes and adapted to the objectives:

What instruments should be applied in accordance with the limitations of landscape complexity? Are they already available, or do we need new developed tools?

• In simple landscapes: Increase landscape complexity through coordinated measures to achieve acceptance by farmers before considering the generalization of agri-environmental measures in local management.
• In intermediate landscapes: Application of measures aimed at species, communities or ecosystem services. Research on habitat requirements will help improve effectiveness.
• In complex landscapes: Maintaining landscape complexity and agricultural practices, to avoid the abandonment of land use or possible changes (for example, afforestation, perennial crops) that can simplify landscapes. The development of mandatory or highly attractive measures (for example, conservation agreements, direct subsidies to agricultural systems of high natural value, etc.) instead of voluntary or weakly mandatory environmental measures.

5. Systematic evaluation and learning process:

The evaluation of the ecological effectiveness of the measures through comparisons or through impact control before and after must be established in parallel with the development of the scheme. A good alternative when long-term maintenance of controls is difficult or impossible is the monitoring of a wide range of types of terrain that will allow the estimation of impacts. The results of the evaluations must be integrated into the design of subsequent reform rounds.

The conclusions

Measures aimed at improving and maintaining the complexity of agricultural landscapes will not only promote biodiversity, but will also increase the effectiveness of measures aimed at reducing the intensity of land use in different types of landscape.

Landscape-scale thinking is, therefore, essential for improving cropland conservation, and specific management recommendations must be formulated regionally.

It is urgent to incorporate all these ideas derived from recent research on CAP greening efforts, as effectiveness has not improved after the 2007 CAP reforms.

The current CAP will continue to promote agricultural intensification, as well as the abandonment of less productive land, and these guidelines can help to incorporate current knowledge about how and why gradients in intensity of agricultural land use modify and limit biodiversity and ecosystem services. Now is the time to apply this knowledge to policy design and evaluation.

You have all the information in: M. Díaz and E.D. Concepción (2016) “Enhancing the effectiveness of CAP greening as a conservation tool: a plea for regional targeting considering landscape constraints” Current Landscape Ecology Reports. DOI: 10.1007/s40823-016-0017-6.