Department of Agrotechnology and Agribusiness, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Oczapowskiego 8, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland.
Department of Socio-Economic Geography, Faculty of Geoengineering, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Prawocheńskiego 15, 10-720 Olsztyn, Poland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 23;19(7):3793. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073793.
Agricultural land accounts for approximately 40% of the total Natura 2000 (N2K) network area. Therefore, many habitats and species protected under the Habitats and Birds Directives are dependent on or linked to agricultural practices. This implies that sustaining agriculture of a high natural value is a priority in achieving the aim of halting the loss of biodiversity in the European Union (EU). However, extensive agriculture is unprofitable in many regions of the EU, which results in it being either abandoned or intensified in the absence of financial support. Hence, organic farming (OF), which is most often supported with public funds, can be an alternative to conventional agriculture in N2K areas. This article is an empirical study of the differences in perceiving the possibilities of farm functioning in a protected area (PA) by organic and conventional farm owners. It was examined whether this could be the actual path to improving farmers' living conditions in the context of legal protection of naturally valuable areas. The study material comprises the results of a survey conducted at the turn of 2016 and 2017, which addressed a total of 292 farmers, including 152 organic farm operators and 140 conventional farm operators, whose areas under cultivation were located within the N2K "Dolina Biebrzy" ("Biebrza Valley") PLH200008 area in Poland. For the analysis of the data collected using structured questionnaires, a variety of statistical methods and techniques were applied. The study results indicated that in terms of satisfaction with the economic performance of their farms, there is no major difference between the opinions expressed by organic and conventional farm owners. However, organic farming could be an alternative livelihood strategy from the environmental policy perspective.
农业用地约占 Natura 2000（N2K）网络总面积的 40%。因此，许多受《栖息地和鸟类指令》保护的栖息地和物种依赖或与农业实践相关。这意味着维持具有高自然价值的农业是实现欧盟（EU）停止生物多样性丧失目标的优先事项。然而，在欧盟许多地区，粗放型农业无利可图，导致在没有财政支持的情况下，这些土地要么被废弃，要么被集约化。因此，有机农业（OF）通常得到公共资金的支持，它可以成为 N2K 地区传统农业的替代选择。本文是对有机和常规农场主在保护区内经营农场的可能性的感知差异进行的实证研究。研究考察了这是否可能是改善农民在自然价值保护区法律保护背景下生活条件的实际途径。研究材料包括 2016 年底至 2017 年初进行的一项调查的结果，该调查共涉及 292 名农民，其中包括 152 名有机农场经营者和 140 名传统农场经营者，他们的耕种面积位于波兰 N2K“Dolina Biebrzy”（“比布扎河谷”）PLH200008 地区。为了分析使用结构化问卷收集的数据，采用了各种统计方法和技术。研究结果表明，就对其农场经济绩效的满意度而言，有机和常规农场主的观点之间没有重大差异。然而，从环境政策的角度来看，有机农业可能是一种替代生计策略。
