Resilient Farmlands (RESIFARMS)

Resilient Farmlands (RESIFARMS)

Promoting education to boost ecosystem services of non-productive agricultural lands.

Funded by: European Comission through Erasmus+ Programme
Project Duration: September 2019 - February 2022 (40 months)
Budget: 258.506 Eur

Project Objectives

The main objective of this project is to build the capacity of farmers and agricultural technicians (knowledge, practical tools and know-how) in the conservation of non-productive agricultural lands, in order to boost the implementation of the most direct and effective conservation actions.

Specific objectives:

  • to elaborate free, open, tailored, high-quality, practical and complementary tools to build up the skills and empower farmers and their assessors and trainers;
  • to provide free, tailored, high quality, online trainings for the main stakeholders involved in the conservation of NPAL;
  • to enhance the collaboration among farmers, agricultural and conservation technicians and other stakeholders to preserve NPAL and make farmlands more resilient in general terms.

 

Results and impact:  

Tangible results during the project (including all targets described, reached in person or online):

  • One NPAL conservation toolkit tailored for agricultural technicians used by more than 600 participants;
  • One NPAL conservation toolkit tailored for farmers, used by more than 400 participants;
  • Online trainings courses for agricultural technicians, joined by 125-200 participants;
  • Video-learning courses for farmers, joined by 100-150 participants;
  • Creation of joint conservation projects by farmers and agricultural technicians;
  • To involve more than 100 volunteers from the partners organizations in the implementation of some NPAL conservation actions;
  • A resources and experiences online database, including scientific and educational resources and more than 50 real conservation experiences of NPAL, used by more than 300 users.

 

Intangible results:

  • Building the capacities of the main targets and other participating stakeholders;
  • Fostering collaboration and cooperation among stakeholders;
  • Enhancing the conservation status of NPAL of farmers participating in the project;
  • Promoting land stewardship among stakeholders.

 

Potential longer term benefits:

  • Improve the conservation status of farmlands;
  • Enhance the application of conservation measures deriving from policies;
  • Increase the strength and impact of sustainable farming and environmental organizations and foster their cooperation.

Project Updates

Background

Farmland occupies vast areas of land in Europe (40% of total land area of the EU-28) and farming practices strongly influence biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service delivery, climate change mitigation, biogeochemical flows and the quality of soil, air and water.

Consequently, farming has a key function in reaching the EU 2020 biodiversity targets and other 2020 goals.

Great efforts have been put in optimizing the application of fertilizers and reducing the use of dangerous biocides, but the conservation of non-productive agricultural lands (NPAL) in agricultural estates, despite being included in CAP's greening as one of the new measures (Ecological Focus Areas, EFAs), continues to be avoided. In the application of these new measures, farmers and their assessors and trainers (agricultural technicians) all over the EU have clearly favored indirect, low-value conservation actions (96,5%), such as catch crops, nitrogen fixing crops and fallow lands over the most direct, high-value conservation actions (only 3,5%), such as conservation of field margins, forests or ponds, etc.

Recent reports suggest that one of the reasons why direct conservation measures are being avoided is a lack of understanding and/or know-how about:

  1. the many benefits of NPAL conservation for farming and its productivity: pollination, pest control, water regulation, climate change mitigation, etc.
  2. the great importance of conserving these areas for nature, health and society. The current situation, combined with the lack of success of CAP's greening, threatens to deepen in the loss of biodiversity and ecosystemic services in the EU.
 

Managing Body & Contact

Laura Chirilă-Pașca

Marketing & Enterprise Manager
Fundația ADEPT Transilvania

Tel: 004 (0) 744 650 582
laura@fundatia-adept.org

Ben Mehedin

Food & Farming Communities Manager - Fundatia ADEPT Transilvania

Tel: 0044 (0)752 264 580
ben@fundatia-adept.org

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Our Partners

Biodiversity conservation and community development in Transylvania
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