ABSTRACT
High Nature Value (HNV) is a concept used to describe some of the oldest and most biodiversity rich farming and forestry systems in Europe, many of which are now under serious threat. HNV farming and farmland areas contribute to biodiversity of European agricultural landscapes. On this HNV land, semi-natural habitats and wild species have been coexisting with low-intensity management by local rural communities for hundreds or even thousands of years. The high nature value proposed in 1993 in an influential report from the Institute for European Environmental Policy (Baldock et al., 1993) and since then has played an important role in research and policy analysis on farming practices and resulting land uses (LUs).
