Estonia falls into the Nemoral and Boreal biogeographical zones – regions naturally dominated by coniferous forests, with extensive mires. Farmers in at least certain parts in Estonia, as in other countries in these zones, traditionally made use of all the possible forage resources available to them to tide their animals...

Proposing a coherent and unified definition of permanent pastures in France is not easy in the detail neither from technical nor from administrative point of view. Starting from usual and specialised dictionaries, the definition of a “pasture” shows a certain blur between a general definition in which a pasture is...

The cross-compliance booklet for Northern Ireland states “Permanent pasture is defined as permanent grassland which is over five years old which has been declared on the Area Aid application in 2003. Land which has been ploughed and reseeded within the same year may be defined as permanent pasture”.

Permanent pastures (PP) of various types dominate the Scottish agricultural landscape. Recent census-based statistics show that permanent pastures in the widest sense account for 82% of Scotland’s farmland, making up an estimated 75% of all land claimed in IACS.

Sweden has a tradition of managing semi-natural pastures with a relatively high amount of trees and bushes. Some of the typical habitats also have low fodder value, but it is often not correlated with tree density. These pastures are mainly alvar grazing (habitat type 6280, Nordic alvar and Pre-Cambrian calcareous...

Agroecology involves various approaches to solve actual challenges of agricultural production. Though agroecology initially dealt primarily with crop production and protection aspects, in recent decades new dimensions such as environmental, social, economic, ethical and development issues are becoming relevant. Today, the term ‘agroecology’ means either a scientific discipline, agricultural practice,...

This paper provides a summary of the results of an analytical review of EU Member States support for mountain areas under EAFRD (2007-2013). The analysis was conducted by the ENRD Contact Point. The main purpose of the review was to provide an overview of the different RD support measures available...

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was the first policy to specifically address mountain regions at European level, through Directive 75/268/EEC on mountain and hill-farming in less favoured areas (LFAs). Since 1975, the CAP instruments promoting the sustainable development of mountain agriculture and the well-being of mountain rural areas have significantly...

Similarly to other Northern countries, Italy has witnessed a growth in recent years of forms of direct sale of agri-food products. These so-called short supply chains often open new opportunities for the development and conservation of rural areas which are not merely economic in nature. The case study described here...

SEEAG's Mission is to educate children about the farm sources of their food from  field-to-table while connecting them to the farmland in their own backyard.

Wolves have been coming back for several years in the southern French Alps. In two valleys of the Mercantour national park, they have been present for 15 years. Sheep farmers have to adapt their farming systems to this presence. We carried out surveys among the sheep farmers i) to describe...

Farming in the area of Maramureş has created a land of impressive scenery and rich cultural heritage. The unique patchwork of forests, orchards, wetlands and grasslands forms the second largest protected area in Romania. This is a semi-natural landscape, the result of a long tradition of traditional farming and shepherding,...

Small producers, who sell their own products from their own farms, have been making and selling their products for many generations. They believe in the health of their products. But in certain cases, production and storage conditions can lead to serious food poisoning, even though the producer/seller who eats the...

This report is produced as part of collaboration between the European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (EFNCP) and WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme (WWFDCP). Both organisations recognise the importance of certain farming systems for nature conservation. Between 2006 and 2008 a project was executed aiming at finding out at a local...

The Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM-IAMB) has initiated since 1999 data collection on the organic sector in the Mediterranean area. Since 2005 a separate chapter in « The World of Organic Agriculture » has been dedicated to the Mediterranean area, and IAMB has committed itself to supporting the global...

La producción integrada, puede servir en los ambientes agrarios mediterráneos, como una estrategia de punto de partida, para una transición agroecológica. Esta transición tiene que abordar importantes retos: recuperar los suelos agrarios deteriorados; mejorar la calidad de las aguas de riego; utilizar variedades adaptadas a las condiciones atmosféricas mediterráneas, especialmente...

The necessity of improving knowledge in fisheries and especially small-scale coastal fisheries in order to analyze the conditions for their sustainable development is increasingly recognized. The three main requirements for the sustainable development of fisheries are the simultaneous present and future well-being of the bio-ecological system, the human system and...

The rural movements that have developed in Europe over the last 30 years represent an organised approach to providing a network and voice for rural areas, their people and the many organisations working for rural development. Faced with many threats of rural decline, centralising policy, globalisation of markets and European...

The objective of this study, commissioned by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and SDRR, is to analyse the status of and future needs for information and communication systems of private and government organizations in the national agricultural research system and its relevant partners with respect to agro-ecological and organic...

European consumers have become increasingly more aware of food safety issues, as a consequence of a number of food ‘scandals’. Most of these ‘scandals’ have been related to livestock products. However, most consumers still believe that it is possible to produce ‘safe’ food at low prices, while a small group...