On 7 – 9 September 2010 EFNCP, with local partners Fundatia ADEPT and University Lucian Blaga, held a conference in Sibiu, Romania, focussing on the public goods supplied by Europes High Nature Value grasslands, the threats to these landscapes, and the policy responses required to protect them and the vital ecosystem services they provide.
The main topic of the conference was “Securing the ecosystem services of European farming”. This conference was held at a crucial moment in European policy-making, while the EU Commission was finalising its proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy 2014-2020.
HNV farming plays a key role in providing a wide range of ecosystem services vital to the long term future of Europe. The conference proposed EU strategies for maintaining HNV farming and grasslands, so securing vital ecosystem services for the benefit of all Europe’s citizens.
Outputs of the conference included a joint policy document supported by leading NGOs in this sector, The European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism, World Wide Fund for Nature, BirdLife International, Butterfly Conservation Europe, a summary of conference conclusions which has been adopted by a wide cross-section of conservation and rural development NGOs in Europe and a conference brochure that examines Transylvania as a case study , with a description of land management and issues facing small-scale farmers and rural communities in the area.
These documents, and the NGO alliance that the conference has helped to create, will all contribute to advocacy of HNV-targeted CAP reforms which will continue over the next few months. For electronic copies: see links to right. For hard copies by post: contact us by email.
The field trip ended in the village of Viscri, where conference participants visited sheepfolds and farm courtyards, so that they could discuss practical problems with the farmers themselves.
