REFLECTING ENVIRONMENTAL LAND USE NEEDS INTO EU POLICY: PRESERVING AND ENHANCING THE ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF UNFARMED FEATURES ON EU FARMLAND Reference: ENV.B.1/ETU/2007/0033 September 2008

Abstract

This report provides a rationale for affording greater protection to Europe’s stock of farmland features in the future. It examines the distribution and density of features that exist across Europe’s agricultural landscapes, assesses the environmental benefits they confer and the pressures they are under, and reviews the measures currently providing a level of protection. The study, conducted between October 2007 and September 2008, is based on eight detailed case studies, an analysis of national databases on features, field visits, GIS analysis and an extensive literature review. It concludes that features face a significant threat of removal or neglect, and if the important environmental benefits that they provide are to be retained, changes to the legislative and policy framework will be required, with the protection of farmland features more explicitly embedded in the objectives and intervention logic of both mandatory and voluntary approaches. Without appropriate safeguards, the capacity of a declining stock of farmland features to support biodiversity, to protect natural resources such as soil and water, and to play a role in climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies may be lost.