The ‘Neighbourhood Effect’: A multidisciplinary assessment of the case for farmer co-ordination in agri-environmental programmes

In this paper we present a multi-disciplinary analysis of the potential impacts of undertaking similar environmental actions on multiple farms in a small geographic area, using organic farming as a proxy for a co-ordinated approach. Recent papers have called for more co-ordinated efforts between farmers in terms of their environmental actions, but there has been limited applied research demonstrating the environmental benefits or the economic and social implications to farmers of this approach. Comparative analysis of biodiversity, soil and water, and farm profitability were undertaken in England on 32 matched farms in areas of low and high organic farming concentration; qualitative interviews were also conducted with 48 farmers living in two of the eight areas. Findings demonstrate higher overall levels of biodiversity on organic farms (particularly in “hotspot” areas) but this was not universal across the species groups investigated. Higher water infiltration rates were found in organic grasslands, which could prove to be a useful measure to combat flooding. In terms of the technical efficiency of producing these environmental gains, conventional and organic farms in hotspot areas demonstrated equivalent efficiency from a financial perspective. Socio-cultural research identified the different amounts of trust farmers have in their neighbours, based in part on their performance as ‘good farmers’. We discuss the neighbourhood effect with a multi-disciplinary approach and conclude that encouraging local farmer co-ordination can have clear environmental benefits without high economic cost, but must be undertaken with caution - specifically regarding the trade-offs between benefits, local geophysical and social characteristics, and assumptions made about inter-farmer trust.     

The impact of information on landowners’ participation in voluntary conservation programs - Theoretical considerations and empirical evidence from an agri-environment program in Saxony, Germany

The voluntary nature of programs that pay landowners for conservation measures raises the question of what factors favor participation in such programs. This article focuses on the controversial issue of the impact of information on the participation decision. We develop a straightforward model to analyze how information affects this decision, and empirically estimate the impact of information, as well as other factors, on participation in a conservation program in Saxony, Germany. We find in our theoretical analysis that information measures may affect program participation either in a positive or negative way, whereas our estimation results indicate that the influence of the diverse information measures that have been relevant in our empirical analysis is weak. We argue, however, that information measures may nonetheless be warranted, as they allow for better informed participation decisions, thus contributing to a more optimal selection of program participants.     

荷兰土地整理对我国土地整理发展的启示

荷兰是世界上开展土地整理较早的国家之一 ,在土地整理的立法和政策等方面都较为完善。本文回顾了荷兰土地整理从产生、发展到完善的近一百年的历史 ,同时分析了当前中国土地整理的现状和存在的不足 ,在土地整理的立法、管理机构的设置、以及将来的发展方向上提出了完善我国土地整理的一些建议。     

新宾县乡村聚落景观格局对于水源涵养的影响

[目的]文章通过对新宾县乡村聚落分布特征、景观格局和土壤侵蚀特征进行分析,探讨乡村聚落布局对水源涵养功能的影响程度和方向。[方法]以1992年、2001年、2010年新宾县卫片为基础,结合土地利用现状以及统计年鉴等社会经济资料,分析乡村聚落分布存在的问题。运用GIS空间分析功能、景观指数对乡村聚落分布特征进行分析,并应用spss软件对土壤侵蚀情况和乡村聚落规模进行相关性分析。[结果]新宾县乡村聚落呈现出平均斑块面积较小,南杂木镇平均斑块面积最大,为3.07hm~2/个;木奇镇平均斑块面积最小,为1.97hm~2。斑块数多永陵镇斑块个数最多,为473个,表明其破碎度较高;斑块个数最少的是响水河子乡,为97个。人均用地面积超标,人均建设用地面积305m~2/人,超出规定的150m~2/人、平均斑块分维数小均在1.16以下,接近于1,斑块具有一的稳定性稳定,分散度较大。土壤侵蚀情况与乡村聚落规模、人口密度在置信度为0.01的情况下相关性显著,并且呈正相关。[结论]新宾县乡村聚落图斑破碎化严重,布局比较分散;土壤侵蚀情况随着距离的增加呈现出递减的趋势;乡村聚落规模越大侵蚀情况越严重。     

Applicability of economic instruments for protecting ecosystem services from cultural agrarian landscapes in Doñana,SW Spain

Abandonment and conversion of cultural agrarian landscapes are major drivers behind the loss of ecosystem services in Europe. One incentive for land-use conversion is the higher (private) economic return from industrial mono-functional crops relative to traditional multi-functional ones. However, conversion of cultural agrarian landscapes can involve high direct and indirect costs to society through the loss of ecosystem services. Using as a case study the traditional vineyards surrounding the Doñana National Park, South-West Spain, this research has three objectives: i) to measure soil erosion impacts from the conversion of traditional vineyards in biophysical and economic terms, (ii) to identify drivers of change behind the loss of traditional vineyards, and iii) to assess the applicability of economic instruments to protect traditional vineyards. Our results suggest that uprooting of traditional vineyards is an important driver behind the siltation of the marsh in the Doñana National Park, which in turns involve socio-environmental costs in terms of loss of ecosystem services and cultural values. Subsidy reform to reward management practices that sustain ecosystem services and eco-labelling of vine-derived products are pointed at as promising economic instruments to slow down or reverse abandonment or conversion of traditional vineyards.     

Local participation in cultural landscape maintenance: Lessons from Sweden

Local participation has evolved as a strategy in the conservation and maintenance of biological and cultural values in cultural landscapes. The meaning(s) of the concept, however, are fuzzy, and conditions for fruitful implementation have only been investigated to a limited extent. In this article, a couple of Swedish cases serve as points of departure for a better understanding of the prerequisites and critical aspects as regards an increased local involvement in landscape management. A review of research on community participation reveals some essential aspects; power relations, participants, the institutional framework, organisation, communication, knowledge building, monitoring and contextual factors. These aspects have formed the structure for the analysis of two cases within which local involvement is considered successful; Southern Öland, where community involvement in seminatural grassland management has been experienced in LIFE-projects and in the process of becoming a UNESCO World heritage site, and Mälarhagar, an integrated restoration and beef production project carried out in close collaboration with farmers. The results are discussed in terms of successful ingredients, counterproductive aspects and operational difficulties. The findings show that trust, communication and local influence are vital ingredients in a participatory approach. Communication and co-management are pointed out as central areas of competence for executives working with landscape management and planning. There are, however, collisions between directives concerning nature conservation and directives concerning public participation. For successful local involvement, the subject for collaboration has to be broadly defined. Furthermore, the strong emphasis on collaboration in participatory approaches demands that democratic aspects have to be considered.     

Biofuels and ecoagriculture: can bioenergy production enhance landscape-scale ecosystem conservation and rural livelihoods?

Global development of the biofuel sector is proceeding rapidly, driven by national policy mandates, government subsidies, and profit opportunities for farmers, agribusiness and energy companies. To date, most investment in—and dialogue on—biofuels has focused on large-scale production of liquid transport fuels. A smaller set of efforts has explored the potential of biofuels to promote rural development by reducing energy poverty among the world's two billion poorest people. Here, we consider the potential of these diverse approaches to promote the goals of ecoagriculture: namely, sustainable agricultural production (including biofuel feedstocks), conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services and viable rural livelihoods. Using a landscape planning framework, we review empirical evidence and identify criteria for designing biofuel production systems that promote this trio of goals. Biofuel development has the greatest potential when biomass production is an ‘interstitial’ activity and when processing and use occurs at the local level. Larger scale production for regional or global liquid fuel markets may be beneficial under some circumstances, but a stronger policy framework is needed to guide this approach. To advance biofuels for sustainable development, while avoiding serious risks, investment must shift to include a variety of ecoagriculture-compatible pathways. Supportive public policies and market incentives must be developed before the biofuel sector develops strong path-dependence toward unsustainable outcomes.     

Identifying and mapping the tourists⿿ perception of cultural ecosystem services: A case study from an Alpine region

Landscapes provide an array of services to society, from the provision of food and material, to the provision of cultural ecosystem services such as recreation, aesthetics or spirituality. Studies on cultural ecosystem services, however, remain rare and little is known about the spatial localisation of these services. In this study, we adopt and test a framework to identify and map the provision of cultural ecosystem services as perceived by tourists in an Alpine region, i.e. the region of South Tyrol in Italy. A photo-based questionnaire survey is combined with cartographical representations of landscape types to elicit hot and coldspot areas of cultural ecosystem service provision. We statistically test for influences of the land use type and the respondents' socio-demographic background on the tourists' perception of these services. The results show that different spatial patterns emerge for each of the investigated cultural ecosystem services depending on the distribution and extent of the landscape types to which they are related. In particular traditionally managed landscapes, small in extent and mainly scattered over large areas between 1000 and 2200 m a.s.l., are hotspot areas of aesthetic beauty, leisure activities and spirituality. In contrast, intensively managed landscapes, mainly located in the lowland plains of the study site, are considered to be more important for the provision of cultural heritage values. While the results suggest that land use type exerts the strongest influence upon tourists' perception, factors such as the respondents' perceived importance of the services, their gender, cultural background, environmental engagement and experience with the landscape play a significant but subordinate role. We conclude that the spatially explicit information about the provision of cultural ecosystem services can serve as a helpful basis for the design and further implementation of land use policies that acknowledge the high touristic value of traditionally used landscapes in mountain regions.     

A holistic approach to land system dynamics – The Monfurado case in Alentejo,Portugal

Understanding land system dynamics is fundamental for policy-making from local to global scale. Land system is a combination of land use, land management and territorial practices. To attain such complete information about landscape structures is a challenging task. Aiming to deepen knowledge on land systems, we applied a methodology meant to achieve a broader understanding of dynamics in the Sítio de Monfurado (SM), a Natura 2000 site and holder of High Nature Value farming systems. To do so, we combined spatial analysis of land system changes with a participatory approach designated as Territory Game. While the spatial analysis shows little change in the SM land systems, the territory is perceived as fast-changing by the territorial actors (e.g., stakeholders with an explicit role in territorial development). At both scales, and in agreement with literature, we find trends of simplification and intensification in land systems, typically associated with the reduction of multifunctionality. The combination of both approaches contributed to the understanding of past changes, the drivers that induce such changes, how these are interpreted and, how to act upon them in the future. The proposed combined methodology can bring new useful insights for policy-makers, although scaling from local to broader scale remains a challenge.     

Public preferences for landscape features: The case of agricultural landscape in mountainous Mediterranean areas

Provision of landscape amenities produced by farmers, in addition to their economic function of producing food and fibre, has contributed to a reassessment of the role of agriculture in society. In this paper, we examine whether agricultural landscape provision really responds to a social demand as is argued by those in favour of multifunctionality. Thus, the aim of the present work is two-fold. First, we evaluate rural landscape preferences of citizens from a range of choices in the mountain area of the Alpujarras (south-eastern Spain), and second, we estimate their willingness to pay (WTP) to enjoy each of the landscape characteristics existing in the area. For the empirical analysis, based on a survey of public preferences due to the good public characteristics of landscape amenities, we applied two stated preference methods: Conjoint Analysis (CA) and Contingent Valuation (CV). Three landscape attributes were considered for this analysis: type of vegetation layer, density of rural buildings, and level of slope. Several levels were also considered for each attribute: abandoned fields, dryland farming, irrigated farming, and natural lands were included for the vegetation layer; three levels (low, intermediate and intense) were considered for the level of slope and three levels (none, little and intense) for rural buildings.