Game in decline
Agricultural policy is the most important factor influencing the status of Europe's different game species. Ungulate populations are increasing, while small game populations are decreasing. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is essential at European level to ensure food security, safeguard farmers' incomes, keep rural areas alive and support environmental objectives. The new position of the FACE contains a series of policy demands to improve game presence and biodiversity in agricultural landscapes under the next CAP (post-2027).
The requests in detail
In order to support biodiversity, small game and European farmers, here are FACE's requests for the next CAP, which will cover the period 2028-2034:
Policy alignment
– A well-funded CAP should support the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 to reverse the decline of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.
– In this context, the CAP should ensure that subsidies incentivise and reward farmers who use best environmental practices.
Environmental performance
– Greater attention to environmental characteristics is needed to support farmland biodiversity and the long-term viability of agriculture.
– Given the current state of nature on European farmland, it is clear that more attention is needed (beyond the current CAP cross-compliance requirements – see Annex I), including in the design of future eco-schemes, agri-environmental climate measures and support for High Nature Value (HNV) farming. This will require appropriate targeting of biodiversity funding.
Strengthened conditionality
– Ensure that a sufficient percentage (based on science: the current position suggests the need to dedicate 10% of agricultural land to landscape elements for the enhancement of biodiversity) of the EU agricultural area is dedicated to semi-natural vegetation (landscape elements).
– Ensure the conservation of existing landscape elements and ecological infrastructures.
– Prevent the removal of important habitats, such as hedgerows, small wetlands and ponds (satellite monitoring is essential to achieve this).
Other requests
Rewarding farmers
– Include mechanisms to reward farmers who have not removed biodiversity-rich habitats. Farmers who have maintained biodiversity on their farms are often lost because resources are only available for habitat restoration.
– Reward farmers for removing invasive alien species (IAS).
Enhanced Eco-schemes
– Ecosystems should be designed to reward farmers for creating quality habitats, which will benefit a variety of huntable and non-huntable species nationwide.
– This will require adequate incentives and rewards for farmers who decide to implement ecosystems on their land, especially those that are beneficial to biodiversity, such as measures that improve ecological infrastructure, proper crop rotations, soil carbon sequestration and minimal disturbance to cultivated soils.
Land Eligibility
– Ensure funding to farmers for activities to maintain wetlands and semi-natural vegetation
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– Include mechanisms to make CAP support available for biodiversity actions linked to certain hunting management practices, which are complementary and beneficial to the environmental objectives of the CAP.
Agri-environmental schemes
– Introduce a Community regulation with minimum requirements to ensure that:
-Results-based agri-environment schemes become more available to farmers with attractive financial incentives.
-More agri-environmental programmes should be implemented that incentivise actions that improve water quality and restore wetlands.
