Project details

Developing a concept of defining and implementing Ecological Focus Areas in Germany

The European Commission’s proposal of the CAP reform after 2013 includes a “green” payment in Pillar One. One part of the corresponding greening obligations is the introduction of Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) on 7 % of arable land and permanent crops. These EFAs are being debated controversially among various actors. The benefits of EFAs for biodiversity and environment depend mainly on the design and implementation in the Member States.

IfLS has been assigned by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation to operationalize the concept of Ecological Focus Areas on national, state and farm level. On the basis of a first concept paper with mainly ecological requirements of the EFA, requisites for a successful design and implementation will be participatively developed in four regional workshops with representatives of administration, agriculture and nature conservation. Furthermore, it will be analyzed to what extend the concept of Ecological Focus Areas interacts with other policy instruments.

Our partners in this project are: Entera (Hannover), IfAB (Mannheim) and ZALF/agrathaer (Müncheberg).