THE GREEN ARCHITECTURE OF THE NEW CAP

On 11th December 2019, the draft European Green Deal was published. This overarching document aims to guide European policy for the following 10 years and recognizes the strategic importance of agroforestry: for example in the following section “…The Commission will ensure that Strategic Plans are assessed against robust climate and environmental criteria. These plans should lead to the use of sustainable practices, such as precision agriculture, organic farming, agro-ecology, agro-forestry and stricter animal welfare standards. By shifting the focus from compliance to performance, measures such as eco-schemes should reward farmers for improved environmental and climate performance, including managing and storing carbon in the soil, and improved nutrient management to improve water quality and reduce emissions”.

Then came the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategies, both published on May 20th 2020. These, too, contain important commitments to agroforestry!

The Farm to Fork Strategy states that: “The new ‘eco-schemes’ will offer a major stream of funding to boost sustainable practices, such as precision agriculture, agro-ecology (including organic farming), carbon farming and agroforestry. Member States and the Commission will have to ensure that they are appropriately resourced and implemented in the Strategic Plans. The Commission will support the introduction of a minimum ring-fencing budget for eco-schemes”

The Biodiversity Strategy states that “the uptake of agroforestry support measures under rural development should be increased as it has great potential to provide multiple benefits for biodiversity, people and climate. The new forest strategy ... will include a roadmap for planting at least 3 billion additional trees in the EU by 2030, in full respect of ecological principles. Tree planting is particularly beneficial in cities, while in rural areas it can work well with agroforestry, landscape features and increased carbon sequestration.”

Finally, and let’s shout it from the rooftops: the “100 tree/ha rule” for basic payment eligibility is dead!!! Member states can ensure agricultural land under agroforestry is fully eligible for Direct Payments “when justified based on the local specificities

(e.g. density/species/size of the trees and soil-climatic conditions) and the value added by the presence of trees, to ensure sustainable agricultural use of the land”. Note, too, that “this encompasses all possible agricultural land uses, avoiding the inclusion of trees only on arable land, as agroforestry systems are present also on permanent grassland and permanent crops”.

EURAF’S AGROFORESTRY POLICY BRIEFINGS

In a series of 22policy briefings, EURAF has summarised the agricultural, climate or environmental policies most relevant to farmers, practitioners and policy makers. They can be reached in www.euraf.net.

WHAT IS AGROFORESTRY?

In the EU, agroforestry has a simple and flexible definition: “a land use system in which trees are grown in combination with agriculture on the same land” (Reg 1305/2013). This definition is complemented by Article 4 of the EURAF Constitution: “Agroforestry practices include all forms of association of trees and crops (silvoarable systems) and/or animals (silvopastoral systems), on a parcel of agricultural land, whether in the interior of the parcel or on its edges (hedges)”

Member States have also summarised their definitions of agroforestry and these are listed in EURAFPolicy Briefing #22 (Feb 23). The definition provided in the Greek CAP Strategic Plan (section 2.1.2.1) is:

“Agroforestry systems are systems with scattered trees or trees in rows, or on the margins of plots. They can be either forest trees (oaks, pines, poplars, cypresses) or fruit trees (citrus, apple and stone fruit trees, acacia trees), olives, carob and mastic trees. They can be combined with the cultivation of cereals, horticultural crops, fruit and vegetables and/or grazing. Trees, if planted in rows, should have a minimum distance of 10 metres between rows, the distance between trees in the same row should be greater than 4 metres. Trees may also be present at the boundaries of the field in the form of a living fenceto protect the agricultural crop from the wind and to create a zone that will support wildlife. The maximum number of trees is 250 trees per hectare.Agroforestry also includes partially forested areas (sparse forests) of pasture with the tree cover up to 40% and understorey with herbaceous and woody vegetation. In this case the minimum tree density may be 5 trees/ha and the maximum 40 trees/ha trees/hectare depending on the slope, tree species and climatic conditions”.

The agroforestry classification in Table 1 has been recommended to Member States by EURAF to be used in monitoring of the CAP as part of the annual “Integrated Administration and Control Returns” (IACS) made by all farmers.

The typology is focused on the fact that all “active farmers” in the EU must complete an annual Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) return of the land uses and crops on their fields (i.e. parcels).They must check the boundaries of their “declared area” using the online Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), showing Landscape Features - including trees and hedges.

EURAF’s recommendations are:

1. In the new CAP, starting in 2023, the ten agroforestry practices tabulated above should be included as IACS/LPIS codes, and the 8 practices on agricultural land should be counted as part Landscape Features (GAEC 8)

2. Landscape Features should be marked centrally by Member States on LPIS ortho-images, and farmers asked to check the areas annually.Farmers should be reassured that Landscape Features are always fully eligible for basic payments.