Livestock and Ecosystem Services: An Exploratory Approach to Assess Agri-Environment-Climate Payments of RDP in Trentino

Abstract

Abstract:The identification of an appropriate justification for Agri-Environment-Climate (AEC) payments is a crucial issue in the new Rural Development Programme (RDP). Given the environmental importance of grasslands in Trentino (Italy), the Management Authority in charge of the RDP decided to integrate an approach based on Ecosystem Services (ES) into the calculation of AEC payments. The paper presents the methodology used for this approach as well as the preliminary results. The first step entails building a probabilistic model for the ES, named Sustainable Fodder Production. Model outputs are then integrated with the accounting results based on the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) database (2009-2012) with the aim of calculating the additional costs and income OPEN ACCESSLand 2015, 4 689 waived due to the environmental commitments deriving from the sustainable management of permanent grassland in livestock farming. Sustainability measures imply more extensive management practices that maintain meadows in a healthy state.

Agro(Eco)System Services—Supply and Demand from Fields to Society

“…At the same time, specific markets are developing for high quality farm products or regional brands. The interest of agricultural producers to enhance production efficiency has often resulted in homogeneous landscapes with low structural diversity [1], soil erosion [2], high nutrient input and water pollution [3], resource-inefficient production schemes [4] and increasing dependence on subsidies, as well as losses in biodiversity and landscape aesthetics [5]. On the other hand, trends to counter these developments are emerging, focusing on natural capital and functions of landscapes and ecosystems other than production [6].…”

“…ERA could support a more resource-efficient agriculture and simultaneously reduce negative environmental effects. Agri-Environmental-Climate (AEC) payment schemes integrating also ES can be another approach towards a more environmentally-friendly agriculture [4]. Such schemes could for example be integrated into Rural Development Programmes (RDP) of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).…”

“…Such landscapes are per se a result of particular demands for agro(eco)system services, and they have always been modified by human interventions into natural processes [6]. Applying the agro(eco)system services concept appropriately can help to show the effects of human interventions by qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing trade-offs between different ecosystem services [1,2,[4][5][6][7] and by supporting the development of site-specific, more sustainable land use strategies. Within the political arena it may turn out that there might be a need to promote a new terminology, to talk about agrosystem services (i.e., the anthropogenic contributions to ecosystem service generation in agricultural land use systems) and to strengthen the use of the term agro(eco)system services within this context.…”

“…Benefits derived from these systems therefore cannot be assigned to ecological processes that exist independently of human activities. Agro(eco)system services need to be considered in the context of 'the multiple goods and services provided to humanity by nature' in combination with (often substantial) additional anthropogenic inputs [7] (such as fertilizer, pesticides, energy, labor, machinery, knowledge) [2][3][4]8,9]. Agricultural systems/landscapes are multifunctional; they supply visually distinct scenery, contain structurally and functionally distinct biodiversity, and they are the source for provisioning, regulating and cultural services [5].…”

“…Based on that, concepts for improved agricultural systems that aim to integrate the supply of/demand for multiple agro(eco)system services so as to maintain long-term ecosystem functioning are elaborated. The contributions include agro(eco)system service supply analyses (referring to food supply [1], fodder [4] biomass as a substitute for fossil resources [1,5], various regulating ecosystem services (2,3), cultural ecosystem services (ES) [1,2,6], and land use effects on biodiversity [1,2]. Table 1 gives an overview of the six different articles, the studied ecosystem services, whether trade-offs between different ecosystem services were analyzed as well as information about methods, scale and stakeholder involvement.…”