Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, 19 Silver Street, Cambridge, CB3 9EP, United Kingdom.
Department of Ecosystem Services, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, D-04318, Leipzig, Germany.
Conserv Biol. 2015 Aug;29(4):996-1005. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12531. Epub 2015 May 21.
Europe is a region of relatively high population density and productive agriculture subject to substantial government intervention under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Many habitats and species of high conservation interest have been created by the maintenance of agricultural practices over long periods. These practices are often no longer profitable, and nature conservation initiatives require government support to cover the cost for them to be continued. The CAP has been reformed both to reduce production of agricultural commodities at costs in excess of world prices and to establish incentives for landholders to adopt voluntary conservation measures. A separate nature conservation policy has established an extensive series of protected sites (Natura 2000) that has, as yet, failed to halt the loss of biodiversity. Additional broader scale approaches have been advocated for conservation in the wider landscape matrix, including the alignment of agricultural and nature conservation policies, which remains a challenge. Possibilities for alignment include further shifting of funds from general support for farmers toward targeted payments for biodiversity goals at larger scales and adoption of an ecosystem approach. The European response to the competing demands for land resources may offer lessons globally as demands on rural land increase.
欧洲是一个人口密度相对较高、农业生产力较高的地区，在共同农业政策（CAP）下受到大量政府干预。许多具有高度保护意义的栖息地和物种是通过长期维持农业实践创造的。这些实践往往不再盈利，自然保护倡议需要政府的支持来支付继续实施这些措施的成本。CAP 已经进行了改革，以降低生产成本，使其低于世界价格，并为土地所有者采用自愿保护措施提供激励。一个单独的自然保护政策已经建立了广泛的保护区网络（Natura 2000），但这仍然未能阻止生物多样性的丧失。还提倡在更广泛的景观基质中采取更广泛的保护方法，包括农业和自然保护政策的协调，这仍然是一个挑战。协调的可能性包括进一步将资金从对农民的一般支持转移到更大规模的生物多样性目标的有针对性支付，并采用生态系统方法。随着对农村土地需求的增加，欧洲对土地资源竞争需求的应对可能为全球提供经验教训。
