Assessment of semi-natural habitats and landscape features on Irish farmland: New insights to inform EU Common Agricultural Policy implementation

Roser Rotchés-Ribalta, Sara Ruas, Karzan D. Ahmed, Michael Gormally, James Moran, Jane Stout, Blánaid White, Daire Ó hUallacháin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Concerns over the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in farmland have prompted the development of agri-environment policy measures aimed at reducing farming pressure and maintaining semi-natural habitats in farmed landscapes. However, further knowledge is needed to guarantee successful agri-environment measures implementation. The current study assessed the quantity and the quality of semi-natural habitats in farms across a gradient of farming intensities in two contrasting regions in Ireland. Policy protection seemed fundamental for semi-natural habitats preservation. Habitats not protected by agricultural policy relied on extensive farming and are in danger of disappearing if they are intensified or abandoned. Due to the lack of policy incentives for habitat quality, no correlations were found between farming intensity and share of semi-natural habitats with habitat quality. Therefore, extensive farming and retention of habitats alone may not reverse the decline of farmland quality and biodiverisity and, thus, measures incentivising the environmental quality may be more successful.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)346-359
Number of pages14
JournalAmbio
Volume50
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2021

Keywords

  • Agricultural policy
  • Greening infrastructure
  • Habitat quality
  • Share of semi-natural habitats

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