| 20 October 2009
European Parliament,
Introduction
ELO, MEP Véronique MATHIEU and the European Biodiversity Foundations, organised a conference on the theme “Biodiversity: the Private Solution” on
The French MEP took the welcoming word first by thanking the organising Foundations, FEIN (Fondazione Europea Il Nibbio), the ELO Water and Habitat Fund, the RISE Foundation, the Fondation Saint-Hubert, the Fondation pour la Protection des Habitats de la Faune Sauvage and the Fondation Wallonne pour la Conservation des Habitats, and by insisting on the very concrete importance of biodiversity on the quality of our life, our future, our reality. She encouraged the participants to identify ways of achieving conservation of biodiversity concretely.
Martijn QUINN, deputy head of cabinet of Commissioner Dimas, also took the word by insisting that biodiversity, “Life on Earth”, was high on the agenda rapidly nearing in importance the actual hot topic of climate change. “A good framework is already in place in the EU” he observed. Expressing some reservations as to the accomplishments of the 2010 targets to stop biodiversity loss, he invited all the concerned stakeholders to carry on developing a real and long term vision after that date.
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The conference, structured in three sessions went on to examine various policy and concrete aspects of the role of private rural managers.
Session 1 was dedicated to exploring the regulatory framework and its possible improvements and needs was opened and chaired by Corrado PIRZIO-BIROLI, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Rise Foundation. Avril Doyle, MEP
Avril DOYLE, MEP, focused on the wide range of impacts of Biodiversity, mentioning papers and studies on the matter as well as some examples in areas like pharmacology or environment. However, she considered that the importance of biodiversity is poorly reflected on the markets and that Europe is far behind concerning the mechanisms to reward or compensate for ecosystem services, whereas the USA have already instituted a number of mechanisms allowing the “ banking” of those services.
She very much insisted on this topic which as she said, does not reflect the position and international responsibility of the European Union should have on this matter.
Robert FLIES, Advisor for nature policy at the European Commission, mentioned the diversity of Ecosystem services produced by the countryside: delivery of goods (food, materials, energy, clean water, medicines, ..) and services (carbon storage, flood protection, protection against erosion, recreation..) and pointed out that the countryside was about “Living Landscapes” where Man and Nature work together. Regarding the implementation of environmental regulation, he notably underlined the significance of coming up with flexible mechanisms in translating scheme conditions to the local environment and to duly taking into consideration the rural areas’ need for a balance between nature’s interests and economic well-being. “I can’t see managing the land for biodiversity conservation, without involving the people who use it and know it best”, he commented. The keys to preserving biodiversity and protecting the economic vitality of our rural environment lie in a close cooperation, an atmosphere of trust, and involvement of different stakeholders.
Tamsin Cooper, an IEEP (Institute for European Environment Policy) senior advisor, spoke on the issue of adequate funding for biodiversity action. She focused her talk on High Nature Value farming systems which are considered as extensive farming systems with high levels of biodiversity. She said that whilst there are a range of Community funding instruments to support action on biodiversity, with potentially quite large funding streams, it is difficult to calculate how much money is actually being allocated to and spent on biodiversity. The quality of the biodiversity outcomes will depend as much on the design, targeting, proper implementation and effectiveness of the measures, as much as on how much money is available. That said, it is reasonable to assume that more money will be needed to adequately support and maintain High Nature Value farming systems, and to mitigate against the ongoing loss of farmland biodiversity, implying the need for a significant increase in the size of the EAFRD budget. The collective challenge will be to understand the effectiveness of interventions in meeting environmental challenges, including biodiversity. Indeed, a limited understanding of the impact of interventions means that it is difficult to calculate the cost of financing biodiversity
Thierry de l’ESCAILLE from ELO opened the second session, dedicated to the presentation of a selection of concrete solutions offered by the private landowners.
Edouard-Alain BIDAULT presented the Wildlife Habitats Foundation which in the past 30 years has been financed by Hunters Federations, but recently with more broad sources. Primarily the activity was focused on wetlands but over the years other types of territories have been incorporated into the Heritage Foundation. Today it has nearly 5000 hectares in 56 departments, which represents more than a hundred sites, not only in national territory but also in
Another successful example was described by Giuseppe NATTA from Belleuropa. The project, developed thanks to EU regulations 2078/92 and 2080/92, allow the land managers to “cultivate environment” on arable farms with a 20-year commitment, without losing their EU subsidies. As a consequence, it was proved in practice that the loss of biodiversity is reversible. In fact, the biodiversity evolution and soil fertility between 1996 and 2006 in La Cassinazza, where a 10% of area cultivated have been used for “cultivation of environment” is undoubtedly positive and easy to implement. The Land Manager’s decision to make the move towards mixed farming (agricultural and environmental production) is only a question of an adequate evaluation of economical opportunities. In his opinion, where the environmental quality in rural areas is low, this is due to the low economic demand for environmental production, which is unable to compete with other less environmentally-friendly production alternatives.
Mr. Michel REFFAY from ONCFS, referred to the Pilot Wildlife Estate, showing that sustainable hunting is a way to regulate and improve natural resources. Not only has it a concrete and positive influence on animal and plant species, but also it has a high economic importance for many rural communities. In fact, territory managers and hunters consider themselves as "solution providers" for the protection of biodiversity.
The aim of this initiative is to establish a network of territories, functioning as good management examples for the wildlife preservation throughout
The project shows that the land owners are in first place "producers" of wildlife, flora and landscape and they will play a crucial role in the education of new generations.
However, its success depends on how valuable biodiversity is considered and how effective communication and education is. It is crucial that the wildlife stakeholders and rural actors must be transparent and speak to each other, even where this seems to be a long and complex process.
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Giovanni BANA, President of the FEIN Il Nibbio Foundation, animated the third session, challenging his speakers to tackle the financial issues and the link between biodiversity and economy.
Edgar KESTELOOT first presented the Belgian Foundation for Conservation of Habitats which he presides which offers services and expertise in the restoration and conservation of (semi) natural habitats. He insisted that human activities must not be seen as merely destructive for biodiversity, but rather as constructive, by (re)creating and managing biological diversity. In his concluding remarks, he stressed the importance of the commitment of small and larger land owners, but also the need to multiply education initiatives towards the younger generations and especially children.
André FOUGEROUX from Syngenta
Subsequent audits showed the very crucial importance of the field margins, which host 80% of the biodiversity. The direct impact on auxiliary insects will convince farmers, to create melliferous fallow lands or increase field edges. Mr Fougeroux regretted the lack of universal biodiversity measuring tool and criteria and concluded that agriculture is compatible with the environment and should be considered as such.
Thibault LECLERC, from Listel took the final word. Listel, a 125-year old company, is the biggest winery estate in
When the company took over the winery some years ago, managers were fascinated by the existing equilibrium and tried to understand it. All was due to the fore-comers and their harmonious traditional ways, which they respected and decided to continue applying: traditional tilling methods, exclusion of pesticides, management of water levels, sheep farming between vines, etc.
Biodiversity is thus fully integrated into the management of the estate and even constitutes a comparative and competitive advantage on the market, through the important awareness of the public. Indeed the estate also assumes the role of a nature reserve, open to the public commercially, which makes not only adds some financial interest but also turns visitors into authentic ambassadors for the estate’s wine products. Listel has in this fashion created a strong label for a wine which, as Mr Leclerc pointed out, “has a story to tell”.
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Award of the BELLEUROPA Prize
The conference finale was the opportunity to present this year’s winner of the Belleuropa Prize, a yearly award promoting outstanding initiatives of land rehabilitation and biodiversity enhancement in EU rural lands. This year, the jury awarded the Prize to Mr Maximilian HARDEGG from the hands of Corrado PIRZIO BIROLI for the rehabilitation of the local river and the creation of wetlands and valuable habitats on his estate located in
Mr Hardegg declared he was honoured that his vision for land management was recognised at a high level and insisted that the project would not have been possible without Austria’s EU membership and the opportunities deriving thereof.
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Véronique Mathieu took the final word to show her optimism for the future, through the examples from both the political arena and the private sector. On the political front therefore, she mentioned how some responsibilities were taken: the Health Check of the CAP which was voted on 7 October, accepted numerous amendments, among which biodiversity matters.
She concluded quoting Edouard-Alain Bidault’s earlier words on the necessity to educate our own children and small children to nature and to the ordinary and extra-ordinary biodiversity surrounding us.
