With the integrated production program, sustainable agriculture in Andalusia has been promoted. The statistics offered by the regional government show that participation in this measure has been increasing over the past few years. Specifically, in the olive grove sector, there is a lot of competition. “Integrated production” provides the farmer with a sustainability brand that is usually linked to a better market price. The contract can be made directly with the administration or through cooperatives that manage various farms (minimum 5). As added value, the use of earth observation techniques allow the monitoring of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) under different crop management increasing the soil quality and the mitigation of climate change impacts.
Objectives
Preservation of soil conservation and biodiversity associated.
Monitoring Soil Organic Carbon under different crop management
Improving visibility of integrated production as a system provider of multiple lasting AECPGs.
Public Goods
Soil quality (and health)
Climate regulation – carbon storage
Integrated production in the olive groves
Problem description
The regional administration provides information on the use and application of different amendments based on expert knowledge and pest risk forecasts. The objective was to obtain a product of both environmental and social quality by granting the integrated production brand. The different crop management have different impact on soil organic carbon. The evaluation process is based on Carbosoil model, developed with 16 soil types and more than 1600 soil profiles in order to predict the soil capacity for carbon sequestration in Mediterranean areas. The novelty in the present case study is developing a control-carbon soil map at a detailed scale for the 0-25 cm soil section, and identifying the impact of crop management on soil organic carbon through earth observation techniques. For that, olive groves under different soil types and crop management will be selected and monitored for estimate the crop management impact on soil organic carbon.
In intensive arable regions like the Nienburg district in Lower Saxony the uptake of current agri-environment schemes is low and their performance unsatisfactory.
Nine arable farms are assessed using the participatory decision support tools SMART, Cool Farm Tool and COMPAS possible pathways of agro-ecological transitions and to co-construct practice-validatedstrategies and incentives for the promotion of improved agro-ecological practices. Agro-ecological practices are adopted on specific parts of the farm if and where such practices fit best with the business plan of the farm. Result oriented approaches will be developed on an experimental basis to foster farmland biodiversity and water protection using the toolkit to assess the environmental, economic and social performance of the innovative strategies at farm level (part of the German case study of H2020 project UNISECO).
Objectives
A local Multi-Actor Platform (MAP) is set up to:
Improve understanding of barriers and drivers of agro-ecological transitions;
Co-construct novel and effective market mechanisms and policy instruments to improve the sustainability of intensive arable farming systems;
Design result-oriented agro-ecological practices allowing to improve biodiversity and water quality while minimizing negative impacts on the economic viability.
Public Goods
Water Qualiy
(Farmland) biodiversity
Agro-ecological transition pathways in arable farming
Problem description
In the district of Nienburg, Lower Saxony a high pressure on ecological sustainability in general and biodiversity loss as well as water pollution in particular persists. Land use is dominated by highly market-oriented farming with a high share of rented land. The experience with demanding agro-ecological practices is very limited. Cover crops are grown as greening measure and some farmers have established flowering strips, extensive field margins.
From last Sunday until November 12th, one year late due to the COVID pandemic, the Glasgow (Scotland) Climate Summit is held (COP26).
The climate summit was attended by the leaders of 120 countries to try to respond to the climate emergency and prevent global warming, among which we highlight Joe Biden (United States), Xi Jinping (China) or Vladimir Putin (Russia). However, some summoned presidents did not attend, as is the case of the Mexican López Obrador or the Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro.
«Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to declare open the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change»
Carolina Schmidt, President of COP25.
Why do they meet?
COP26 is an expected appointment because the main themes of the Paris Agreement of six years ago must be developed. Among them, the increase in the commitments of each country to combat greenhouse gas emissions or the financing of the fight against climate change.
Let us remember that 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement (2015) and all of them undertook to limit the increase in the planet’s temperature to more than 1.5 ºC, as he highlighted British Minister for International Development, Alok Sharma.
Sharma alluded to the latest IPCC report, which we already published on the CONSOLE project blog, that last August confirmed that climate change is “undoubtedly” caused by human activity and pointed out that the study, signed by 195 governments, has set off alarms and shows that “the window is closing.”
OP26 President Alok Sharma says reaching agreements on 1.5C maximum global warming will be ”very very tough”. SOURCE: BBC NEWS
But politicians weren’t the only ones present
Activists have also mobilized in Glasgow with the objective of put even more pressure on politicians. This is the case of youth campaign members ‘Extinction Rebellion’ who manifested on Saturday, in parallel to the arrival of the young climate activist Greta Thunberg, who share a clear outrage at the climate emergency.
COP21, held in France in 2015, is considered the first meeting of the COP from which real and concrete commitments emerged from all signatory countries. There it was agreed that carbon emissions should be reduced to avoid global warming, so the temperature should be controlled and limited to less than 2 degrees, but ideally up to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as we mentioned earlier. The signatories also agreed on national targets to reduce greenhouse gases by 2030.
However, scientists have warned that if governments do not act now, it will be too late and impossible to achieve the first emission reduction goal by 2030 and, therefore, so much, achieve the objectives of zero emissions by 2050. So the Glasgow declaration is expected to pick up enough progress and a roadmap so serious that it is really a “tipping point”.
The project started in 2015 and is still ongoing. The main goal was to restore former high value pastures that have been turned into farmland and in this way to restore the natural habitats of important species – the European Souslik as a main food source for Imperial Eagle, Booted Eagle, Lesser spotted eagle, Long-legged buzzard. The contract is land-based and it includes around 20 farmers in the Strandzha Mountain. The leading organization is the Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds, which is an NGO. Under a project financed partially by the LIFE + program the association purchased and leased out over 600 ha land to farmers with requirements to restore and maintain the pastures in the environmental way.
Objectives
Protect the local biodiversity in the area;
Restoration of the natural mosaic nature of the habitats in the region;
To encourage the involvement of farmers into contracts for biodiversity conservation.
Public Goods
Landscape and scenery
(Farmland) biodiversity
Rewilding of detention basin in Massa Lombarda
Problem description
There is a tendency to plough and convert some of the most important grasslands for endangered bird species into arable land, vineyards and orchards. The main driving force for this contract was the high percentage of tilled pastures, which were turned into arable land in the Strandhza and Sakar mountains. The restoration of former high-value pastures will contribute to the conservation of endangered vulture birds and will also allow the restoration of the mosaic nature of the habitats – an important biodiversity feature.
Different owners and managers develop common and differentiated management goals for their respective territories for developing sustainable nature and forestry; integrated management, according to the Flemish Integrated Management Criteria (ecology, economy, social and heritage dimension aspects).
Objectives
The nature management plan describes the most important values of an area for its ecological, social and economic function and makes well-founded choices about the important objectives for this area. The plan must also clarify which measures are required for this, and how and where they are implemented. One also wants to know whether the area under management is actually evolving in the right direction and, where necessary, adjusting management is needed. A nature management plan has a term of 24 years, unless determined otherwise when approved. In addition, the nature management plan is an administrative document. It is a contract between the government and the manager in which certain fees stand against certain commitments. The nature management plan is also a way to test whether the planned goals and measures are in accordance with policy preconditions, such as N2000 management plans, species protection programs or protected landscapes. This requires that the goals and measures are formulated unambiguously and according to an agreed terminology.
Public Goods
Landscape and sceneryResilience to natural hazardsSoil quality (and health)
Recreational access / Improvements to physical and mental healthRural viability and vitalityWater Quality
In the region of Flanders forests and nature legally are managed through one type of plan – the nature management plan. This plan replaces all previous management plans: • basic forest management plan; • extended forest management plan; • management plan for forest reserves; • management plan for nature reserves; • management plan for verges; • management plan for parks. The nature management plan is a voluntary contract under administrative law between the Flemish government and the manager(s) of nature and forests. Advantages of the nature management plan: • single approval procedure for all types of nature (forest, heath, open green space,…); • transparent and organized; • linked to subsidies; • nature and forest management plan is valid for 24 years – evaluation every six years, no further administrative approvals needed; • public bodies, NGO‘s and private owners use the same system and get equal opportunities; • a nature management plan is a constructive tool for the long term planning of a plot of forest or nature.
On December 18th, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly established October 15th as the International Day of Rural Women.
Today, the CONSOLE project partners want to pay this small tribute to all those women who with their contribution to rural and agricultural development, support the eradication of poverty and the improvement of food security.
The role and condition of rural women
According to UN, rural women make up 43% of the agricultural workforce, and in their daily work of tilling the land and planting seeds; they are helping to ensure food for their communities, as well as providing food to the nations.
In the specific case of Europe, women represent 40% of the workers in the family farm and 37% of the total workers in the field. In addition, women manage on average 30% of European farms and own 27% of farms in the member countries of the European Union.
However, despite their work and productivity, they have little or no access to land, agricultural materials, credit, markets, etc., as the male sector enjoys doing the same work. Furthermore, they do not have equitable access to education, training, infrastructure and services such as water.
International Day of Rural Women
According to Fernandez Aguerri (2002), the functions of women in rural areas are:
Productive function. The participation of women is located in different socio-professional positions with different levels of employment and degree of dedication to it;
Social function. Maintaining the family unit in the rural environment, assuming the responsibilities of family care (elderly people, sick relatives, and children in rural areas without proximity services);
Cultural function. Maintaining and ensuring, in many cases, the oral transmission of culture and the conservation of the heritage of rural areas, without forgetting its indispensable role in the conservation and transmission of the gastronomic heritage of our peoples;
Environmental function. In the development of their productive function, in addition to worrying about the maintenance of places and areas in their surroundings, they manage the rural space, keep the landscape alive and conserve resources.
They still face / suffer from discrimination in terms of political participation within their communities and their work is unpaid or less than that of their counterparts. In other words, they are neglected and in worse conditions than urban women and rural men.
That is why it is necessary to support them and create policies aimed at improving their situation in all areas.
European Policies
There is a clear concern in the European Union about equal opportunities in rural areas; being aware that women can promote the development of rural areas.
Among its policies, it has included the gender perspective in its rural development programs. All member countries are obliged to analyze the situation of women in rural areas and take the results into account in the process of creating public policies and development programs at the national and regional levels. Programs that go beyond increasing the number of working women, but rather that have an impact on all aspects of life in rural Europe.
Conclusions
The importance of the rural world justifies a detailed study of it, and of a group as important as women, who perform different functions (productive, social, cultural and environmental).
However, we must demand a policy of equal opportunities, which equates it to men in this area, and also an improvement of the environment itself that facilitates their personal and professional development. Both needs are known by the EU, which is proposing to the member states actions in this regard and has promoted initiatives that try to improve this situation.
Reference
Fernández Aguerri, M.J. (2002): “Retos y problemática de la mujer en el ámbito rural. El papel de las agrupaciones de este sector de población en el desarrollo rural”, Jornada Temática sobre Políticas de relevo generacional e incorporación de la mujer al mundo rural. Madrid. Noviembre.
