The AgriEnvironment: farm and landscapescale challenges

1
The Agri-Environmentfarm and landscape-scale
challenges

• Julie Ingram Chris Short
• CCRI Policy Conference
• 21st October, Queens Hotel Cheltenham

2
Outline

• Why the agri-environment
• A globallocal issue
• The landscape perspective
• The farm level
• Future challenges

3
Why the Agri-environment?

• Majority of land is in agriculture
• In some places for thousands of years
• Increasing concern about ecosystems
• MEA reports two thirds of ecosystems damaged
• UKCIP predictions on impact of climate change
• Defra balancing food production and environment
• European scale important, means close interaction

4
Global Issue

• CCRI convened International conference
• Governing Shared Resources connecting local
  experience to global challenges

5
A truly global conference
6
Global Issue

• Key issues were
• Benefits of collective action
• Breadth of commons or shared resources
• Multi-level governance and issue of scale
• Social aspects of climate change
• Moving from impact to mitigation and adaptation
• What is enough? and large gaps in our knowledge

7
Importance of scale - Landscapes

• The sum of the parts is greater
• Biodiversity
• Resource protection
• Cultural land use heritage
• Ecosystem services
• All benefit from landscape approach
• Within UK all have link to Agriculture
• So what is happening?

8
Recent work on landscapes

• WAG project on environmental co-operatives
• Mix of approaches optimal
• Facilitate group action and learning
• Benefits (social) from co-operative working
• Own implementation and self-regulation
• Policy/scheme flexibility
• Disseminate widely among local community
• Important messages for new Glastir scheme

9
Future work on landscapes

• Defra, biodiversity adaptation case studies
• Evaluation of SWWTs Living Landscapes projects
• Effectiveness of landscape-scale projects
• Testing the application of CC biodiversity
  science
• How have other organisations engaged with it
• Outputs are Policy and Best Practice Guidance
• Key element will be involvement of local assets

10
The farm level

• CCRI research has built on a long tradition of
  farmer behaviour/decision making research
• Agricultural Change and Environment Observatory
  Programme (Defra)
• Understanding and influencing positive behaviour
  change in farmers and rural land managers (Defra)
• Motivations for entry into and exit from
  agri-environmental schemes in Wales, (Welsh
  Assembly Government)
• All these reports are available at
  www.ccri.ac.uk

11
Framework for understanding farmer behaviour
Policy makers, policy deliverers, other farmers,
public
Farm resources, business, system, family, labour
Farmer values and goals, intrinsic and extrinsic
motivations
12
The farm level

• Further influences
• Farm life cycle and family influences
• Community level influencessocial networks,
  social capital, peers
• Society level influences - recognition
  from consumers, government and public
• Human capital - knowledge and learning
• Culture/identity what it means to be a farmer

13
Community, society culture
Community level Social networks
Societal/government level recognition
expectations
Human capital, culture, identity
14
Lessons for farm landscape scale approaches

• Local solutions- value farmer knowledge
  encourage involvement and learning
• Farmers appreciate the environment and their
  place in the landscape -build on this
• Co-learning and interacting with other farmers is
  important - facilitation
• Farmers need recognition provide feedback/
  monitoring
• Farmers want commitment and continuity from
  policy makers
• Farmers need rewards - business, social and
  personal

15
Challenges for farm landscape scale approaches

• Farmers have different capacities and ability to
  adapt - some are locked-in to systems
• Farmers have different values, motivations,
  cultures and identities
• Social capital - social networks fragmented
• Farmers feel disempowered - lack of government
  and public understanding

16
Farmer values/motivations

• So we are very much swayed or influenced by what
  government wants or society wants. If you want
  food we will produce food, if you dont want food
  then we will sit down and admire the scenery,
  basically
• Farming is about farming the land, it isnt
  about farming subsidies, or gorse bushes. Its
  about practical farming while being sympathetic
  to the environment
• I find a balance between animal welfare and
  maintaining the environment as well as organic
  production is the goal, but at the end of the
  day you need to be able to make a profit

17
Research

• Policy
• Practice