Biodiversity friendly Agri-Environment Schemes and species-rich grassland - Resolution and recommendations from conservation professionals

The document prepared by ECCB2012 symposium organizers and SCB-ES was sent to high-level EU officials in January 2013.

Download the resolution from here.


“European conservation biologists, restoration ecologists and biodiversity experts from both research and practice met in Glasgow in August 2012, at the third meeting of the European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB12). That meeting included a number of well attended symposia on issues related to farmland biodiversity and the need to develop effective solutions to redress biodiversity declines in agricultural landscapes, which are evident across every Member State of the EU. This clearly demonstrates that addressing farmland biodiversity declines is a major concern to conservation and restoration experts throughout Europe as a whole.

European farmland biodiversity is tightly linked to the maintenance of landscapes, which genuinely combine and integrate natural and semi-natural elements and thereby provide appropriate conditions for the persistence of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. The preservation and restoration of such unique landscapes is a duty of the EU, its Member States and related countries.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a major driver of land management decisions across Europe. Depending how the ongoing reforms are implemented, all aspects of the reformed CAP have the potential to either help or hinder efforts to enhance biodiversity across Europe. We therefore believe that it is essential that biodiversity concerns are integrated fully into all aspects of the CAP reform process and implementation, with coherence sought with the ongoing design of Green Infrastructure across Europe.

We, the European community of biodiversity specialists, have drawn up a resolution focused on the delivery of efficient biodiversity-friendly Agri-Environment Schemes and the maintenance of species-rich grasslands. We hope that the numerous suggestions in this document will assist you in ensuring that the multi-functional, biodiversity-rich agro-ecosystems that Europe needs can be provided in the future.

On behalf of the Europe Section of the Society of Conservation Biology (SCB-Europe) and of the symposia organizers:

Dr Andras Baldi
(President, SCB-Europe)
Prof. Dr Pierre Ibisch
(Chair, Policy Committee, SCB-Europe)
Prof. Dr Raphaël Arlettaz
(Board member, SCB-Europe and symposium convener)
Dr David Buckingham (symposium convener)
Dr Tony Morris (symposium convener)
Dr Kirsty Park (symposium convener)”