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Gwyn Jones European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism [email protected] High Nature Value Farming: lessons from home and abroad
Gwyn Jones European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism
High Nature Value Farming: lessons from home and abroad
Examples of where we can learn from others:
• Need to identify all relevant land, so can target payments
• Need to link inventories to IACS/LPIS
• Workable monitoring system
• Local project-based approach with output-linked payments, integrated in CAP
HNV farmland is about more than designated sites and priority habitats
Farmland
Semi-natural farmland and
features
Annex 1 farmland habitats
Natura 2000
Natural England draft map of HNV farmland - based on inventories of priority semi-natural habitats + suites of farmland species.
Need to capture wider matrix to get both ecological and agricultural context
BAP priority habitats inventory
• Natural England did local HNV mapping using aerial photos to capture the wider ‘landscape matrix’, building on inventoried habitats and County Wildlife Sites.
• Field survey in Culm parishes showed the technique is robust.
BAP Priority Habitats map
Devon project draft (semi-natural) HNV map
Extent of HNV farmland and % designated
Total extent of study area ha
HNVF as % of study area
% HNVF covered by SAC
% HNVF covered by SSSI
% HNVF covered by County Sites
Blackdown Hills
36,860 11 0.1 10 47
Culm 40,628 16 8.5 11 17
South Devon
33,700 20 4 10 47
HNVF in agri-environment schemes
% of all land in AES (current and classic schemes)
% of HNV farmland in AES (current and classic schemes)
% HNV farmland in current Higher Level Scheme
% of HNV farmland in “classic” schemes
Blackdown Hills
47.2 46 11.5 13
Culm 67.5 61 18 17
South Devon 66 70 19 26
National semi-natural grassland inventories
Habitat Inventory of Wales – lowland example
Habitat Inventory of Wales – lowland example
LPIS-IACS is probably the key to effective targeting, protection and monitoring of HNV farmland
Bulgarian example
HNV farming identification and monitoring in Navarra
Identification from
inventories/ remote
sensing
On-farm monitoring of features
most sensitive to change
Type 1: Farmland with a high proportion of semi-natural vegetation
LCM 2000 classification Combined with UAA
Scotland is making a serious effort….
• Good attempts at
identification; interesting
approach to monitoring
• English work stopped?
• Welsh work??
• Nothing in N. Ireland?
www.Irishviews.com
2004-09 2010-13 Art. 68
www.Irishviews.com
This is a PILLAR 1 scheme!!!
….designed by and embraced by FARMERS!
Messages • HNV farmland is more than designated sites, but provides the
context for many of them… – Scheme targeting needs to be more ecologically-meaningful in some
areas
• Need to take HNV farmland identification more seriously – Inventories of semi-natural pastures and meadows are key, but
Countryside Survey is a big step down that road
• Need to take HNV farmland monitoring more seriously – but Countryside Survey approach has inspired others already!
• To make things work efficiently, need to link to IACS/LPIS – some of the EU’s poorest countries are doing it!
• Local projects can be innovative, build trust, enable real collaboration, be output-linked
