Year of publication 2010

Conservation riparian buffers can have a positive impact on agriculture by reducing erosion, improving water quality, increasing biodiversity, and expanding wildlife habitats. Buffers remove sediment from surface runoff and reduce concentrations of nutrients and pesticides. Research demonstrates that buffers can be effective in promoting environmental quality in and beyond agricultural landscapes. This technical brief attempts to give an overview of the benefits of conservation riparian buffers as a way of preserving water quality. Following an overview of the benefits, this brief discusses how to design and maintain a buffer. The structure of the technical brief is as follows: Sections 1 and 2 describe the conservation of riparian buffers and different types. Section 3 sets out the benefits of the application of buffers at a farm level. Section 4 presents an overview of how water quality is preserved by buffers. Section 5 highlights the obstacles to buffer implementation at farm level. Section 6 explores the steps on how to design a buffer by defining the benefit, the width, the vegetation, diversity and creating an implementation and maintenance plan. Section 7 outlines case studies of buffer implementation in Europe, New Zealand, Japan and China. Finally, Section 8 recommends some further reading.