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Collaboration or fragmentation? Biodiversity management through the common agricultural policy

Leventon, Julia ; Schaal, Tamara ; Velten, Sarah ; Dänhardt, Juliana LU ; Fischer, Joern ; Abson, David J. and Newig, Jens (2017) In Land Use Policy 64. p.1-12
Abstract

We argue that the current system of agri-environment management in the European Common Agricultural Policy is ineffective at conserving biodiversity in part because it promotes fragmentation instead of collaboration of actors, thus hindering coordinated biodiversity management. Actor fragmentation is reinforced by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in three ways: (1) through targeting individual farmers; (2) by creating confusion around coordination roles for increasing numbers of actors; and (3) by failing to engage with barriers to collaboration among farmers. Our findings draw on empirical evidence collected through multi-stakeholder workshops in Germany and Sweden. Our argument adds a different dimension to accepted explanations... (More)

We argue that the current system of agri-environment management in the European Common Agricultural Policy is ineffective at conserving biodiversity in part because it promotes fragmentation instead of collaboration of actors, thus hindering coordinated biodiversity management. Actor fragmentation is reinforced by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in three ways: (1) through targeting individual farmers; (2) by creating confusion around coordination roles for increasing numbers of actors; and (3) by failing to engage with barriers to collaboration among farmers. Our findings draw on empirical evidence collected through multi-stakeholder workshops in Germany and Sweden. Our argument adds a different dimension to accepted explanations for the ineffectiveness of CAP for biodiversity management. Traditionally, explanations have focussed on low levels of farmer uptake of relevant measures, or the lack of ecological knowledge informing such measures. The level of actor fragmentation identified here suggests that a fundamental rethink of farmland biodiversity management is needed. We propose a new research agenda to identify more effective governance approaches.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Agri-environment schemes, Conservation, Ecosystem services, European Union, Social network analysis, Social-ecological systems
in
Land Use Policy
volume
64
pages
12 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000405881100001
  • scopus:85013841841
ISSN
0264-8377
DOI
10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.02.009
project
Rural development through governance of multifunctional agricultural land-use
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2543f083-c400-40ea-a2d0-1ecd4dee76c4
date added to LUP
2017-03-08 08:24:26
date last changed
2024-02-29 10:49:55
@article{2543f083-c400-40ea-a2d0-1ecd4dee76c4,
  abstract     = {{<p>We argue that the current system of agri-environment management in the European Common Agricultural Policy is ineffective at conserving biodiversity in part because it promotes fragmentation instead of collaboration of actors, thus hindering coordinated biodiversity management. Actor fragmentation is reinforced by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in three ways: (1) through targeting individual farmers; (2) by creating confusion around coordination roles for increasing numbers of actors; and (3) by failing to engage with barriers to collaboration among farmers. Our findings draw on empirical evidence collected through multi-stakeholder workshops in Germany and Sweden. Our argument adds a different dimension to accepted explanations for the ineffectiveness of CAP for biodiversity management. Traditionally, explanations have focussed on low levels of farmer uptake of relevant measures, or the lack of ecological knowledge informing such measures. The level of actor fragmentation identified here suggests that a fundamental rethink of farmland biodiversity management is needed. We propose a new research agenda to identify more effective governance approaches.</p>}},
  author       = {{Leventon, Julia and Schaal, Tamara and Velten, Sarah and Dänhardt, Juliana and Fischer, Joern and Abson, David J. and Newig, Jens}},
  issn         = {{0264-8377}},
  keywords     = {{Agri-environment schemes; Conservation; Ecosystem services; European Union; Social network analysis; Social-ecological systems}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  pages        = {{1--12}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Land Use Policy}},
  title        = {{Collaboration or fragmentation? Biodiversity management through the common agricultural policy}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.02.009}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.02.009}},
  volume       = {{64}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}