Agri-environmental Management in Europe: Sustainability Challenges and Solutions - From Policy Interventions to Practical Farm Management

Kathy Lewis, John Tzilivakis, Douglas Warner, Andy Green

• Publisher: 5m Books
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781912178452
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Agribusiness
• Index: Business

Modern agriculture faces many challenges, most crucially food security and the need for sustainable farming systems. Decisions and actions in the agricultural sector come from government and stakeholder policies and on-farm decision-making. This comprehensive monograph provides a perspective on the current state of agri-environmental management in Europe from both a policy and practical perspective. Some of the issues in agriculture discussed are climate change and air pollution, biodiversity, water use and quality, pesticides, pathogens, flooding and drought, energy resources, land use, soil composition, nutrients, livestock, cropping, habitat management and cultural considerations. These important issues form the framework of the book, with each issue discussed in the context of its history, and asking the questions 'why is it an issue', 'what is the current scientific understanding regarding it' and 'how has policy shaped it'. The book takes an integrated approach by not just examining these issues separately, but examining the whole system in which these problems are manifested. At the end, technologies and solutions which are currently being developed and could be used in the future are discussed and the horizon scanned for future environmental challenges. Agri-environmental Management in Europe is an authoritative source for both undergraduate and post-graduate studies that consider the agri-environmental challenges society faces.

Chapter 1
Introduction

1.1. Introduction to the book

This book endeavours to explore the complex agri-environmental challenges European society faces and highlights some of the tools and techniques available to tackle these challenges, ranging from the strategic level of European policy making and formulation of interventions, down to practical on-farm solutions and mitigation options. It is not possible in a book such as this to delve deep into the science of each issue; instead it provides a comprehensive overview seeking more to provide an insight into the integrated nature and complexity of the agri-environment. The book seeks to cover much of western and middle Europe including Iceland and Cyprus but excluding Russia and seeks to consider all the cultural and political elements that affect the agri-environment. It should be noted that a significant proportion of the EU’s agriculture and environment policy and regulatory framework has been adopted by European countries not in the EU, such as Iceland and Switzerland.

The book has five themes through which these challenges are explored:

• Chapter 2: Atmospheric pollution and climate change
• Chapter 3: Biodiversity
• Chapter 4: Water
• Chapter 5: Resources
• Chapter 6: Cultural heritage.

Each chapter has broadly the same structure. The first part considers the background and nature of the issues and challenges, looking at the fundamental causes, the key threats and the current scientific understanding. Having set the scene, the second part proceeds to explain how the problems are being tackled across Europe by governments and major organisations, that is, taking a ‘top-down’ perspective. This part explores how policy, legislation, instruments and interventions have developed over time and how current frameworks work. The final part looks at the issues taking the opposite ‘bottom-up’ perspective and discusses on-the-ground activities that can be taken by farmers, land owners and rural communities to manage and mitigate the problems. This part includes descriptions of practical on-farm management options including management planning; land, soil, water, livestock, crop, infrastructure and habitat management; and technological and biotechnology solutions.

Many of the five themes are inherently connected, thus a critical and emerging challenge is to develop integrated solutions and approaches, where multiple challenges and objectives are simultaneously addressed. This forms the topic of Chapter 7. The final chapter (Chapter 8) will explore the knowledge and technology that may be developed in the near future that could be utilised to help tackle current issues; and will scan the horizon for other agri-environmental issues and challenges that may lie ahead. It also briefly considers how policy might adapt and develop to address emerging issues.

This first chapter introduces and provides a background to the agri-environmental topic, including the issues and challenges faced by society. It then provides an overview of some elements that are common to multiple issues and thus chapters in this book, so that they do not need to be repeated within each chapter. This includes key policies and interventions such as the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy and various other EU regulations and directives, and key biological, geological, chemical and physical cycles and processes, such as the carbon and nitrogen cycles.

1.2. Background

Although many parts of Europe, particularly the north-west may be perceived as being highly urbanised, in reality 95 per cent of the region (409 Mha; Hart et al., 2013) is defined as being rural. Of this, 165 Mha (38% of the EU; Hart et al., 2013) may be forest, but 191 Mha (45% of the EU; Hart et al., 2013) is under agricultural production of one sort or another, 107 Mha (25% of the EU) being cropland and 84 Mha (20% of the EU), grassland (Hart et al., 2013). The historical dominance of this land use means that much of Europe’s countryside has been shaped by agriculture over many centuries, and as a result the industry has a central role to play in both the maintenance of the rural environment (particularly less intensive forms of agriculture), and in achieving the broader environmental objectives of European governments, including the EU as a whole and its individual Member States (MSs) (OECD, 2008; EC, 2006; EC, 2013a). The agricultural industry is essential for the delivery not only of a wide range of vital and/or desirable ecosystem services, not least of which of course is food, but also fibre and energy products, recreational facilities, water resources, flood regulation and many others (Hart et al., 2013). In addition, although farming generally only accounts for a small proportion of most European countries’ economies, for example approximately 1.7 per cent of the EU’s GVA (gross value added; Eurostat, 2014), it is the foundation of many rural economies and communities, and therefore essential in maintaining social cohesion (EC, 2013a).

The environmental impacts of agriculture have, for a number of years, been the focus of considerable public attention and regulatory control. Some of these have been widely reported (EEA, 2007; Zalidis et al., 2004), including the pollution of surface and groundwaters resulting from the use of nitrogen fertilisers (Skinner et al., 1997) and pesticides (Warren et al., 2003), the declines in biodiversity such as farmland bird populations (Chamberlain et al., 2000) and honeybees (Goulson et al., 2008), and the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from ruminant livestock (O’Mara, 2011), whilst others such as pollution from the use of veterinary products (Kay et al., 2005) are less widely understood outside the scientific community. There are, therefore, a variety of linked systems at work in such environments, some of which may be complementary whilst others are contradictory, and not always in a consistent way. Intensive agriculture for example, is often questioned due to the negative environmental impacts which may result, including pollution of surface and groundwaters, increased GHG emissions (Cooper et al., 2009; Woods et al., 2010; Rey Benayas and Bullock, 2012), damage to soils with the subsequent potential for increased erosion (Pimentel and Kounang, 1998; Louwagie et al., 2009), increased demand for water for irrigation (Hart et al., 2013) and the reduced biodiversity which often seems to accompany specialisation in a single form of production, for example arable (Stoate et al., 2001). Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that intensification of production has led to significant increases in the output (food, fuel and fibre) produced by the agricultural industry (Donald et al., 2001; EC, 2006), indeed, intensification is generally defined as being an increase in productivity per unit area of land with ‘sustainable intensification’ referring to the goal of achieving ‘more from less’, that is, increasing productivity without (or at least not to the same degree) increasing the use of natural resources. Thus, agricultural intensification has an essential role to play in maintaining and/or improving food security (both within Europe and beyond) in a world in which the global population is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 (UN, 2014). In addition, intensification may also result in a number of environmental benefits, including (in some cases) reductions in GHG emissions and efficiencies in the use of natural resources such as fossil fuels and water, and it is even argued that increased production in one area of land may free up land for biodiversity through the process of ‘sparing’ (Burney et al., 2010; Garnett, 2010; Phalan et al., 2011), although the evidence for this is inconclusive (Rudel et al., 2009).

This serves to illustrate the complexity of the interactions at work between agricultural production and the environment in which it operates, something which is further added to by the heterogeneous nature of European agriculture. Although EU cropland is dominated by arable agriculture (which includes cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and root and leafy vegetables, amongst others), in Mediterranean countries permanent crops may be important, and similarly grassland may be anything from intensive lowland pasture to unimproved and upland grazing (Hart et al., 2013). In addition, the regional make-up of the industry can vary significantly both between and within European countries. The proportion of land given over to crops, for example, ranges from 48 per cent of land in Denmark (2.1 Mha) to as little as 4 per cent in the Republic of Ireland (350,000 ha), which in contrast has the highest proportion of grassland (64% or 4.5 Mha). It is, therefore, the goal of agricultural and agri-environment policies, and their delivery on the ground, to strike the most advantageous balance between the various elements of this multifaceted system – albeit what constitutes the ‘most advantageous balance’ may be interpreted differently by different people (farmers, environmentalist, consumers, regulators, and so on).

1.3. The policy landscape

The agri-environment is a highly complex entity with mankind being not only a creator of the problems but also having the power to prevent, manage and mitigate them. The complexity of the system means that a problem in one area is rarely, if ever, an isolated issue. It invariably influences the quality and/or function of other areas. Air pollution, for example, does not just affect air quality but can cause water and soil pollution via pollutant deposition, damage habitats and biodiversity and exacerbate climate change, as well as potentially affecting crop productivity. If the impact is not direct, it can be secondary or even tertiary. A single plant species may provide food or habitat for a ‘seemingly’ insignificant insect, but if its populations diminish then the insect’s predators will have a shortage of food and their populations will also drop, potentially causing a chain reaction. If the insect provided other ecosystem services then these will also be less productive. For example, if the insect was a pollinator, then other plant species pollinated by that insect may also fail and it soon becomes obvious that the insect is far from insignificant.

As is the case with many policy areas, there are many players involved. This is, perhaps, more so when it comes to protecting the environment as pollution does not remain in one location and does not recognise national boundaries. Airborne pollution can travel extremely long distances when in the lower atmosphere and become deposited in locations far beyond its source point. Therefore, several international organisations, such as the United Nations, have debated and promoted multilateral conventions and treaties to tackle a particular issue such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Signatories to these agreements, be they individual countries or whole communities such as the EU, must then take action to ensure that their obligations are met and so these convent...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of tables
• List of figures
• Acronyms and abbreviations
• Chapter 1 – Introduction
• Chapter 2 – Atmospheric pollution and its consequences
• Chapter 3 – Biodiversity
• Chapter 4 – Water
• Chapter 5 – Resource management and productivity
• Chapter 6 – Cultural heritage within the agri-environment context
• Chapter 7 – Integrated perspectives
• Chapter 8 – Future perspectives
• Index