Postponement of the first date
The Agriculture Division of Province of Bolzano reminds that the application to obtain the surface premium, due to the postponement of the first mowing date on the Muta di Malles (at the end of June or at the beginning of July), can be submitted to the West Agriculture District Office of Silandro by 31 March 2024. The award follows the clear decrease at European level in the population of birds that nest in meadows. The Muta di Malles is the last large area for meadow-nesting birds left in South Tyrol. The prerequisite for preserving the habitat of these bird species is not to mow the affected meadows too early. The area concerned, with a total surface area of approximately 1500 hectares, is divided into three sub-areas and the earliest possible mowing date is therefore staggered between the end of June and the beginning of July. “Biodiversity is a concern that is and must be in the interest of agriculture. Therefore, the subsidies provided for this purpose are a good investment for the future of farmers, but also of the entire population,” said Luis Walcher, Councilor for Agriculture and Forestry.
The first results
Late mowing and moderate fertilization should ensure that the meadow-nesting bird populations remaining on the Mals Mountains do not decline, and ideally, with a high contribution from farmers, even increase. The first monitoring results already show positive effects. However, the measures do not only benefit birds nesting in meadows. The measures allow more plants to germinate. This not only increases the diversity of plants, but also benefits all other living things.
CAP
Contributions are paid only for cultivated areas that participate in the "permanent grassland management" (SRA08) or "organic production" (SRA29) measures as part of the environmental, climate and other management obligations of the national strategic plan Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Furthermore, the affected areas cannot be leveled or drained. The beneficiaries are the farms that cultivate meadows in the project area on the Muta di Malles. The contribution is assigned in the form of a surface premium and amounts to 600 euros per hectare, with a minimum of 200 euros per application. This area premium is intended to honor the commitment of the participating farms and to compensate to some extent their economic restrictions. Since the project began three years ago, participation has grown from 70 farms with approximately 160 hectares to almost 90 farms with approximately 240 hectares of meadow last year (source: Province of Bolzano).