Agriculture - Land use change

Title

Assessing long-term sustainable environmental impacts of agri-environment schemes on land use

Reference

European Journal of Forest Research
Doi: 10.1007/s10342-010-0469-x
EU funded

Author(s)

Jens Peter Vesterager, Kasper Teilmann and Henrik Vejre

Study type

Peer Review Journal    

Abstract

The lack of generic methods to assess the environmental consequences of agricultural practices and the lack of consensus on monitoring and evaluation of environmental, agricultural and socio-economic effects of agri-environment schemes (AES) in EU Member States call for better evaluation methods. The ‘Agri-environmental Footprint’ project proposed to deal with these problems by establishing a new evaluation method, the Agri-Environmental Footprint Index (AFI). The AFI is an index customised to local stakeholder preferences, using expert knowledge for assessment of impacts and sensitivity, and indicators of the environmental state at farm level. In a Danish test case, agricultural practices at twenty-five farms in two groundwater protection zones were assessed. Data was collected from databases, registers, maps and interviews with farmers. The index was calculated for 1996/7 and 2006/7 to track temporal development and effects of entering an agri-environmental scheme. The Danish case demonstrated that the index can be used to track changes in environmental impacts and that entering agri-environmental scheme had a positive impact on the index value. However, the index should be used with caution. It is important to consider the robustness of each indicator: to assess whether changes will occur over time; whether changes are linked to management practices or external factors; and whether data are available up to date. Indicators dependent upon uptake data from agri-environmental schemes should be used with great caution. Retrospective use of stakeholder preferences is subject to uncertainty because preferences may have changed over time.

Policy theme(s)

Agriculture >> Agricultural management >> Agri-environment schemes
Agriculture >> Agricultural management >> Land use change
Land use >> Land use change     

Keywords

Multi-criteria decision analysis; Sustainable impact assessment; Temporal comparison; Back casting; Stakeholder; Agri-environment schemes

Entry Source:

Shortlisted for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

View this study at:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/118576057p667574/
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Contact the study author at:

jpv@life.ku.dk

Title

Indirect land use change emissions related to EU biofuel consumption: an analysis based on historical data

Reference

Environmental Science & Policy
Volume 14, Issue 3, May 2011, Pages 248-257

Author(s)

Koen P. Overmars, Elke Stehfest, Jan P.M. Ros and Anne Gerdien Prins

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

Biofuels have recently been promoted in policies as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. However, biofuel production in itself also induces emissions directly as well as indirectly. This paper presents an explicit calculation of indirect land use change (ILUC) emissions from EU biofuel consumption. The approach includes a straightforward methodology for quantifying ILUC, based on assumptions and on data that is readily available. The calculations show that ILUC emissions alone could shift the CO2 balance for biofuels from reductions to more emissions relative to fossil fuels. This calculation is largely based on historical data, which reduces uncertainty compared to forward looking modelling approaches. However, some of the uncertainties remain. Advantage of this approach is that it can easily be reproduced, which may add to the acceptability in the domain of policy making.

Policy theme(s)

Agriculture >> Agricultural management >> Land use change
Climate change and energy >> Climate change mitigation >> Low carbon and renewable energy
Climate change and energy >> Greenhouse gas emissions >> Terrestrial emissions
Land use >> Land use change

Keywords

Indirect land use change (ILUC), Bioenergy, Greenhouse gas emissions, Renewable energy directive

Entry Source:

N/A

Referred to in EC doc:

Shortlisted for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

View this study at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901110001887
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Contact the study author at:

koen.overmars@pbl.nl

Title

Environmental Impacts of Water Use in Global Crop Production: Hotspots and Trade-Offs with Land Use

Reference

Environ. Sci. Technol., 2011, 45 (13), pp 5761–5768
DOI: 10.1021/es1041755

Author(s)

Stephan Pfister, Peter Bayer, Annette Koehler, and Stefanie Hellweg

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

Global crop production is causing pressure on water and land resources in many places. In addition to local resource management, the related environmental impacts of commodities traded along international supply chains need to be considered and managed accordingly. For this purpose, we calculate the specific water consumption and land use for the production of 160 crops and crop groups, covering most harvested mass on global cropland. We quantify indicators for land and water scarcity with high geospatial resolution. This facilitates spatially explicit crop-specific resource management and regionalized life cycle assessment of processed products. The vast cultivation of irrigated wheat, rice, cotton, maize, and sugar cane, which are major sources of food, bioenergy, and fiber, drives worldwide water scarcity. According to globally averaged production, substituting biofuel for crude oil would have a lower impact on water resources than substituting cotton for polyester. For some crops, water scarcity impacts are inversely related to land resource stress, illustrating that water consumption is often at odds with land use. On global average, maize performs better than rice and wheat in the combined land/water assessment. High spatial variability of water and land use related impacts underlines the importance of appropriate site selection for agricultural activities.

Policy theme(s)

Agriculture >> Agricultural management >> Crop management
Agriculture >> Agricultural management >> Land use change
Land use >> Land use change
Water >> Water consumption >> Water scarcity

Keywords

N/A

Entry Source:

Selected for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

Referred to in EC doc:

N/A

View this study at:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es1041755
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Contact the study author at:

pfister@ifu.baug.ethz.ch

Title

Biological conservation in dynamic agricultural landscapes: Effectiveness of public policies and trade-offs with agricultural production

Reference

Ecological Economics
Volume 70, Issue 5, 15 March 2011, Pages 910-920

Author(s)

F. Barraquand and V. Martinet

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

Land use change and land management intensification are major drivers of biodiversity loss, especially in agricultural landscapes, that cover a large and increasing share of the world's surface. Incentive-based agri-environmental policies are designed to influence farmers' land-use decisions in order to mitigate environmental degradation. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of agri-environmental schemes for biological conservation in a dynamic agricultural landscape under economic uncertainty. We develop a dynamic ecological economic model of agricultural land-use and spatially explicit population dynamics. We then relate policies (subsidies to grassland, taxation of agricultural intensity) to the ecological outcome (probability of persistence of a species of interest). We also analyze the associated trade-offs between agricultural production (in value) and biological conservation (in probability of persistence) at the landscape scale.

Policy theme(s)

Agriculture>>Agricultural management>>Agri-environment schemes
Agriculture>> Agricultural management>> Land use change

Keywords

Agriculture; Conservation; Dynamic landscape; Ecological–economic model; Land-use change; Price volatility

Entry Source:

N/A

Referred to in EC doc:

Shortlisted for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

View this study at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092180091100005X
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Title

Effects of bioenergy policies and targets on European wetland restoration options

Reference

Environmental Science & Policy Volume 13, Issue 8, December 2010,
Pages 721-732

Author(s)

Christine Schleupner and Uwe A. Schneider

Study type

Peer Review Journal

Abstract

The EU is committed to combat climate change and to increase security of its energy supply. Bioenergy from forestry and agriculture plays a key role for both. Concurrently, the EU agreed to halt the loss of biodiversity within its member states. To fulfil the biodiversity target more nature conservation and restoration sites need to be designated. There are arising concerns that an increased cultivation of bioenergy crops will decrease the land available for nature reserves and for 'traditional' agriculture and forestry. To assess the role of bioenergy in light of possible negative impacts on ecosystems, the European Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model (EUFASOM) assesses simultaneously economic and environmental aspects of land use. This study contributes to the assessment by analyzing the effect of bioenergy production on European wetland allocations by incorporating the spatial wetland distribution model SWEDI into EUFASOM. Results show that bioenergy targets increase land competition and thus marginal costs of wetland preservation but also of food prices. The designation of national wetland conservation targets, on the other hand, stimulates land use intensification in countries without these targets and here only a transfer of environmental stresses takes place. The model is able to illustrate regional differences of results.

Policy theme(s)

Climate change and energy >> Climate change mitigation >> Renewable energy
Agriculture >> Agricultural management >> Land use change
Land use >>Habitat maintenance
Land use >> Land use change

Keywords

Biomass, Conservation planning, Land use, Leakage

Entry Source:

Shortlisted for Science for Environment Policy News Alert

Referred to in EC doc:

N/A

View this study at:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901110001000
There is a fee to view this study in full

Contact the study author at:

christine.schleupner@zmaw.de