To start with an example for question number 2 “about promotion of ecosystem services and our experiences” I would like to share one example from Germany. In Germany much cropland suffers from water induced erosion. When uncovered parts of farmland is exposed to heavy rainfall or high wind, soil particles can be transported downhill. This results in a loss of fertile soil that is essential for life itself, on the field and also on landscape level. And because farming is becoming ever more intensive and monoculture oriented, serious long term problems can result.
Therefore since a few years the German Ministry started to make farmers aware of how to avoid soil erosion and developed an optional payment for those farmers who adapt certain criteria’s in their soil management.
This instrument mainly promotes precautionary measures and its requirements constitute minimum standard of soil management including farming related measures. It might include extensive crop rotation or catch-cropping (ensuring continuous ground covering) or under sowing for crops such as corn and sugar beets) and ways to avoid linear water runoff and inflow (install barriers, i.e. small terraces and field strips or sustained greening of depressions and channels…).
I would be interested if any one of you have other examples of other EU countries on how ecosystem services are ensured on the ground and if you have examples for linkages between field and landscape?
Dear all,
Thank you for this great discussion forum.
To start with an example for question number 2 “about promotion of ecosystem services and our experiences” I would like to share one example from Germany. In Germany much cropland suffers from water induced erosion. When uncovered parts of farmland is exposed to heavy rainfall or high wind, soil particles can be transported downhill. This results in a loss of fertile soil that is essential for life itself, on the field and also on landscape level. And because farming is becoming ever more intensive and monoculture oriented, serious long term problems can result.
Therefore since a few years the German Ministry started to make farmers aware of how to avoid soil erosion and developed an optional payment for those farmers who adapt certain criteria’s in their soil management.
This instrument mainly promotes precautionary measures and its requirements constitute minimum standard of soil management including farming related measures. It might include extensive crop rotation or catch-cropping (ensuring continuous ground covering) or under sowing for crops such as corn and sugar beets) and ways to avoid linear water runoff and inflow (install barriers, i.e. small terraces and field strips or sustained greening of depressions and channels…).
I would be interested if any one of you have other examples of other EU countries on how ecosystem services are ensured on the ground and if you have examples for linkages between field and landscape?
Further reading:
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/topics/soil-agriculture/land-a-precious-resource/erosion
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/publikationen/legal-instruments-to-implement-the-objective-land