Wild Plants for Biogas - Cultivation Experiments Started with Economically and Ecologically Auspicious Species

 

Award for Habitat Fallow Land Project

 

 

Representatives of nature protection, hunting and agriculture came together and initialised the project “Habitat Fallow Land” in spring 2003. The goal of the project is to improve the situation of wildlife in the agrarian landscape by using wildlife-friendly forms of set-aside. Furthermore, they try to integrate wildlife-friendly land set-aside into the basic conditions of agriculture.

 

Practice

During the project period (2003-2006), the working group organizes 2.200 hectares of arable farmland for a wildlife-friendly optimised land set-aside. They test the cultivation of low-coast seed mixtures as suitable cover-, breeding- and feeding habitat for wildlife. The sample areas are located in the German federal states Bavaria and Hesse. Probably, this type of set-aside will have remarkable positive effects on wildlife. The wildlife-friendly optimised land set-aside is supported by the project budget. The collected results will be discussed with other project groups in the German federal states Thuringia and Lower Saxony.

 

Science and Monitoring

This part of the working group is a cooperation of different scientific sectors (e.g. plant sociology, wildlife biology and ornithology). They investigate and document the biodiversity and population development of selected “open land” species like Partridge, Hare and Skylark on the sample areas in Bavaria and Hesse. Another aim is to test the findings related to the possibility of transfer to other landscapes.

 

Politics

The project analyses the basic legal conditions of the obligation and voluntary set-aside on national and European level, and explores the political need for action to integrate the wildlife-friendly optimised land set-aside into the basic legal conditions. Furthermore, it is important to give farmers more powerful and professional information about nature conservation and best practise of set-aside in the agricultural landscape. Other tasks are presswork and media information and the analysis of the conflicts concerning the permitted cultivation of non-food crop and wildlife-friendly set-aside.

 

Read more about the project at Working Group Agri-Environmental Measures or at www.lebensraum-brache.de 

 

More Information

 

You can download some more informational brochures on the Project Habitat Fallow Land in English, French or German, such as:

 

Informational leaflet

A short leaflet on the project with information on the project’s background, practice, politics and how it is financed.

 

Creating Wildlife Friendly Set-Aside Areas – A Practical Guide

This summary aims at the following:

- Processing of background information on implementing set-asides

- Discussion of issues pertaining to soil preparation, planting and cultivation of land to improve the wildlife habitat, thus preventing errors occurring during implementation

- Provision of pertinent arguments.

 

A Position Paper: Land Set-Aside in Agricultural Policy

Concept, perspectives and action requirements in agricultural policy from the point of view of nature and game conservation