TY - JOUR

T1 - Patterns of agri-environmental scheme participation in Europe

T2 - indicative trends from selected case studies

AU - Pavlis, Evangelos S.

AU - Terkenli, Theano S.

AU - Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard

AU - Busck, Anne Gravsholt

AU - Cosor, Georgia L.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - This paper investigates the personal and property characteristics of landowners who use EU Rural Development agri-environmental schemes (AES), as well as their motives for participation or non-participation in such schemes. The study is based on a questionnaire survey with landowners, in selected study areas in the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Italy and Greece. Our principal findings show that AES tend to attract more the owners of larger farms, who are frequently full-time, younger, post-primary school educated and agriculturally-trained farmers. The latter findings are contingent on local geographical particularities and on subjective factors, farmers' individualities, different rural cultures, landscape types, EU and national policies and special needs of the study areas—all areas where agricultural production is increasingly marginalized, for different reasons. Subsidy scheme participation motives did not seem to be strictly economic; they also regarded personal satisfaction. They are all together generally appeared to be place specific, since the respondents from peri-urban Northern European areas were more motivated to participate in AES than respondents from Central and Southern European areas with marginal potential for agriculture. Motives for non-participation were also found to be dependent on the level of farming engagement and on case-area landscape types.

AB - This paper investigates the personal and property characteristics of landowners who use EU Rural Development agri-environmental schemes (AES), as well as their motives for participation or non-participation in such schemes. The study is based on a questionnaire survey with landowners, in selected study areas in the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Italy and Greece. Our principal findings show that AES tend to attract more the owners of larger farms, who are frequently full-time, younger, post-primary school educated and agriculturally-trained farmers. The latter findings are contingent on local geographical particularities and on subjective factors, farmers' individualities, different rural cultures, landscape types, EU and national policies and special needs of the study areas—all areas where agricultural production is increasingly marginalized, for different reasons. Subsidy scheme participation motives did not seem to be strictly economic; they also regarded personal satisfaction. They are all together generally appeared to be place specific, since the respondents from peri-urban Northern European areas were more motivated to participate in AES than respondents from Central and Southern European areas with marginal potential for agriculture. Motives for non-participation were also found to be dependent on the level of farming engagement and on case-area landscape types.

KW - AES participation

KW - Agri-environmental schemes (AES)

KW - Farm size

KW - Farming engagement

KW - Motives

KW - Subsidy use

U2 - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.09.024

DO - 10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.09.024

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84982211865

VL - 57

SP - 800

EP - 812

JO - Land Use Policy

JF - Land Use Policy

SN - 0264-8377

ER -