Agriculture & Land Management

Helping to build the capacity and understanding of actors in the field of agri-environmental policy is an important dimension of IEEP’s work. In relation to agriculture and land management policy we do this by holding events, facilitating workshops and providing bespoke training on a range of environmental issues relating to agricultural land management. We also provide advice on the EU dimension of the agricultural policy debate, including the EU institutions and processes involved, to a range of stakeholders and other actors in the UK and other Member States.

A central element of this role has involved working with EU Accession countries, helping to build institutional capacity and sharing EU policy expertise to inform the development, design and subsequent implementation of their agri-environment schemes. Since 2000 we have undertaken capacity building projects in most of the new Member States prior to their accession to the EU in 2004 and 2007. More recently we have carried out similar projects in Croatia and Turkey.

Our most recent projects have focused on developing agri-environment schemes that prioritise the maintenance of High Nature Value (HNV) farmland, providing guidance to ministry officials and other stakeholders on how to identify and map their HNV resources. We are currently working with IUCN and Natura Balkanika in Serbia to develop an agri-environment handbook for the country. We are also working with a network of environmental NGOs in Macedonia, helping to develop their capacity in the field of agri-environment policy to enable them to play a more active role in working with the relevant Ministry officials to design new agri-environment schemes that address local environmental priorities.

In 2008, we completed a three year study in Turkey to develop an agri-environment scheme to support HNV farming. Similar work is ongoing in Serbia and Macedonia with local NGOs to identify the challenges faced by small scale farmers, to produce maps of the distribution of HNV farmland, and to identify relevant rural development measures to support these valuable farming systems.

Through our CAP2020 web-site we promote informed and independent analysis and commentary on the CAP and aim to engender an active debate and exchange of information on CAP reform.