Forestry measures under the common agricultural policy

Véronique SONDAG (Eurostat)

The measures accompanying the CAP reform which are intended to promote the reafforestation of agricultural land are of recent date (Regulation (EEC) n° 2080/92). However, between 1993 and 1997 they made it possible to reafforest just over half a million hectares throughout the European Union. This reafforestation was carried out chiefly in agricultural areas permanently under grass, and the species planted were mainly broadleaf in order to achieve long-term growth. It was accompanied by premiums to compensate for loss of income, especially in Germany. The Regulation also included investment aid and aid for woodland improvement, which enabled the countries of southern Europe to extend their network of forest roads, thus providing better protection against fire.

Forest and agriculture

Under the umbrella of a common forestry policy a number of measures have been implemented: 

• structural measures under the CAP and their accompanying measures such as forestry measures in agriculture (Regulation (EEC) N° 2080/92), a scheme to develop and optimally utilise woodlands in rural areas (Regulation (EEC) N° 1610/89), measures for developing the forestry sector by improving the situation regarding the processing and marketing of forestry products (Regulation (EEC) N° 867/89)
• Community measures to protect forests against atmospheric pollution (Regulation (EEC) N° 3528/86)
• measures to protect forests against fire (Regulation (EEC) N° 2158/92)
• setting up a European forestry information and communication system – EFICS (Regulation (EEC) N° 1615/89
• Community support for forestry research (Box 1).

European forests cover 130 million hectares, representing 36% of the total area, and 87 million hectares of forest are exploitable. Forestry industries employ about 2.2 million people.

The rest of this article is devoted solely to a study of measures to promote the afforestation of agricultural land (Regulation EEC n° 2080/92). In view of the subject of our publication, we have deliberately confined ourselves to studying woodland on agricultural holdings (Box 2).

Recent afforestation measures

Measures to accompany the reform of the CAP were adopted in 1992. They called on the Member States to implement measures to protect the environment. In this context, Council Regulation (EEC) N° 2080/92 of 30 June 1992 instituted a Community scheme of aid for forestry measures in agriculture (Box 3).

The tables and charts in this article are based on data supplied by the Member States to the Commission between 1993 and 1997. The data present the implementation of the various programmes under this Regulation at 30 April 1996, except for Greece and Finland, for which the reference date is 30 April 1997 (EL* and FIN*). Data are not available for Belgium, nor for Sweden, which did not implement the Regulation until 1996. These results are the subject of a report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament.

Between 1993 and 1997, the total Community contribution to afforestation measures under Regulation (EEC) N° 2080/92 was ECU 1.27 billion, of which a third went to Spain, a quarter to Italy and the rest was shared among the other Member States. Ireland received the third largest amount allocated, which was about half that received by Italy, even though Ireland afforested a larger area than Italy (Figure 1). This difference is due to the type of afforestation. Ireland planted mostly conifers, while Italy planted mostly broadleaf species, which attract higher aid payments.

Over half a million hectares afforested between 1993 and 1997 

Excluding the figures for Belgium and Sweden, a total of 519 350 ha of agricultural land has been afforested since 1993 under Regulation (EEC) N° 2080/92.

Spain alone accounts for 46% of this additional European wooded area, followed by the United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal, which afforested over 50 000 ha of agricultural land during this period. These four countries account for four out of five hectares of agricultural land afforested under this Regulation (Figure 2).

Over two-thirds of these afforested areas are located in areas classed as presenting a fire risk under Regulation (EEC) N° 2158/92 on the protection of forests against fire.

Spain has the greatest number of beneficiaries, since it accounts for 30% of aid cases (Figure 3). Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom account for 60% of European farmers who have received aid under this scheme.

Afforestation under this scheme is almost exclusively on private land (96% of the area). The average afforested area on private land is relatively small (7 ha) and varies considerably, between an average of 0.8 ha per beneficiary in Austria and 30.7 ha in Portugal (Figure 4, Box 4). In a number of European Union countries, farmland is broken up into small plots, leading to "postage stamp" afforested areas. Although they can be beneficial from the point of view of environmental protection and landscape management, they do not necessarily meet the demands of the forestry policies of the Member States or the objectives set by the CAP.

In contrast, the average area afforested by the public sector is large (81 ha), and in the Netherlands it is as high as 233 ha per beneficiary. However, these figures should be interpreted in the light of the fact that the number of beneficiaries is small (9 in the Netherlands, 23 in Denmark and up to 637 in Spain) and that the areas are proportionally low (4% of the total areas).

If we compare the area of agricultural land afforested under the Regulation with the total utilised agricultural area (UAA) (calculated in 1995), only Ireland, Portugal and Spain have areas afforested under the Regulation of approximately 1% of their total UAA (Figure 5). Ireland is the only country in which the afforestation carried out significantly increases the total wooded area (Figure 6), since the increase is almost 16%, compared with only about 2% in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. It is considerably lower in all the other countries. This result must be seen in the light of the fact that Ireland is the European country in which woodland covers only about 5% of the total area, while the average for the European Union (EU 15) was 33% in 1997.

Mostly broadleaf species, mainly on permanent grassland

For the European Union (EU 15) as a whole, the breakdown of the newly planted area according to the previous use of the land (Figure 7) is as follows: 60% was permanent pasture and meadow, 37% arable land and 3% land under permanent crops. For the individual countries, however, the distribution varies widely. In the Netherlands and Denmark, trees are planted almost exclusively on arable land, while in Ireland and Austria they are planted only on permanent pasture and meadow.

These differences are due mainly to economic factors: the afforestation rate is low in arable crop areas and in intensive livestock farming areas (where value added and rents are high). Afforestation is carried out preferably on permanent grassland in regions where livestock farming is less profitable and on arable land with low productivity.

The broadleaf/coniferous breakdown (Figure 8) for the European Union as a whole is about 40% for conifers and 60% for broadleaf species, mixed plantations (over 75% of broadleaf) and fast-growing plantations. For the individual countries, the breakdown varies considerably. In Ireland the proportion of conifers is over 80%, while in all the other countries studied it is less than 50%. This should be analysed in the light of the fact that the premium for planting broadleaf species is 25% higher than that for planting conifers.

Premiums to compensate for loss of income especially in Germany

Germany has the most recipients of premiums to compensate for loss of income (Figure 9). Thus one in three farmers receiving such premiums is German. In Greece, Spain and Finland, there are fewer beneficiaries whose main occupation is farming than other beneficiaries incorrectly referred to as "persons other than farmers". This must be seen in the light of the definition of such persons used in this Regulation. For farming to be regarded as the main occupation, a person must derive at least 25% of his total income directly from farming.

It should be noted that the United Kingdom grants this premium only to farmers, while in the other countries both farmers and persons other than farmers are eligible. There are no recipients of the premium in Denmark and Austria, since it was not included in the Austrian programme and did not come into effect in the Danish programme until 1997.

Premiums for improving woodland

Three countries have very large numbers of recipients of aid for investments to improve woodland (Figure 10): Germany, Denmark and Finland. In contrast, some countries (France, Ireland) have granted almost no aid of this kind.

The forest road network (Figure 11) has been extended in the countries of southern Europe, mainly in Spain and Portugal, where it is a measure to protect forests from fire (firebreaks, waterpoints) in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EEC) N° 2158/92 on the prevention of fire (Box 5).
 

The afforestation of agricultural land has probably helped only slightly to reduce surplus agricultural production, while its contribution to rural development should not be neglected. It encourages multiple activities by farmers, a dynamic approach to land use and sound conservation of the countryside. Thanks to a judicious choice of species, locations and management methods, afforestation generally plays a major role in environmental protection (control of erosion, prevention of desertification, biodiversity, regulation of the water regime, etc.). In addition, by increasing the fixation rate of carbon dioxide, the afforestation of agricultural land helps to combat the greenhouse effect (cf. Article "Agriculture and climat change").

The expansion of the programme during recent years is confirmed by new, as yet unpublished figures indicating that 860.000 hectares were afforested under this programme by the end of 1998. Approximately 66% of this total were in Mediterranean MS (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain). Authorised applications accounting for a total of 1.140.000 has had been received by the end of 1998.

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