ABSTRACT
In former times, agricultural production in Europe led to a great variety of land-use systems which provided a broad habitat and species diversity. However, over the past 50 years many habitats have been destroyed by intensive fertiliser and pesticide use, irrigation and drainage to achieve homogeneous water levels best suited for production as well as the destruction of natural and man-made landscape structures such as wet sinks, hedges and stone walls. Agricultural intensification is now considered a main cause of farmland biodiversity losses. Additionally, land abandonment in areas with small and extensive farming systems is a growing problem as in such areas low-intensity farming such as livestock rearing and traditional cultivation methods have created semi-natural habitats that support a wide range of species. In order to reverse the trend of intensification and land abandonment, the EU developed ‘agri-environmental schemes’ which were set up all over the EU following Regulation 2078/92.
