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European Landowners’ Organizat ion MAY-JUNE 2011 - BIMONTHLY - EN

The crises in Greece, troubles around the euro zone and the battle between “new world” and “old world” for IMF and FAO

are showing that as Europeans we are facing tremendous challenges, especially regarding the future shape of European Union. The undertaken reform of the CAP is one of those milestone steps which will show in which direction we want to evolve. During its last session in Strasbourg the Euro-pean Parliament has focused on agricultural product quality schemes, on quality labels and on the food chain – all of which are essential to be improved as the recent crisis which has affected the organic vegetables market has shown. The Moscow ban on EU vegetables has proved once more the importance of the word ‘solidarity’. The same ‘solidarity’ has to be kept in mind once the European Union budget for 2014-2020 has been presented, especially when it is revealed how much support will be dedicated to the agricultural sector. This is why we are closely following the amendments to the report presented by MEP Albert DESS on “CAP towards 2020: alimentation, natural resources and ter-ritory- facing the future challenges.” As land managers and land owners committed to insuring agricultural and environmental security to contribute to world food supply we are also deeply involved in issues such as water safeguarding and biodiversity protection.Therefore we are proud to present to you the results of our discussion which took place during the Regional Conference of the 4th Forum for the Future of Agriculture in Warsaw. The debate will continue in Paris on the 18th of October – we hope that you will join us there.

Thierry de l’EscaillEsecretary General

Editorial

Towards a Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Waters

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The EU has already developed for some time a fully fledged water policy that has gradually shifted

from addressing mainly health concerns, such as quality of drinking water, to the environmental impacts of major water using sectors like agriculture, industry and households.

Since 2000, with the adoption of the Water Framework Directive, water policy has made another step-change taking an integrated approach on the basis of the concept of river basin management aimed at achieving good status of all EU waters by 2015.

However, the achievement of EU water policy goals is far from secured due to a number of old and emerging challenges including water abstraction for agriculture and energy production, land use, hydromorphological changes, climate change impacts, etc.

These challenges often lead to major adverse ecological effects and leave limited space for natural habitats. The problem is related to both water quality and quantity. Over-abstraction is causing low river flows, lowered groundwater levels and the drying-up of wetlands, with detrimental impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Climate change is projected to increase water shortages, particularly in the Mediterranean region and, as the European Environment Agency (EEA) points out, water scarcity and droughts have severe consequences for many economic sectors. Furthermore, over the past ten years, Europe has suffered more than 175 major floods, causing deaths, the displacement of people and large economic losses. Climate change is projected to increase the intensity and frequency of floods. 1

Our policy response to these challenges is the 2012 Blueprint to Safeguard Eu-rope’s Waters aimed to ensure good quality water in sufficient quantities for all legitimate uses. The time horizon of the Blueprint is 2020 since it is closely re-lated to the EU 2020 Strategy. However, the analysis underpinning the Blueprint will have a longer time span up to 2050.

The Blueprint will synthesise policy recommendations building on three on-going assessments: 1) the assessment of the River Basin Management Plans delivered by the Member States under the Water Framework Directive, 2) the review of the policy on Water Scarcity and Drought on which the Commission has recently adopted its annual report,2 and 3) the assessment of the vulnerability of water resources to climate change and other man-made pressures.

A crosscutting theme of the Blueprint will be the link between safeguarding water resources and addressing other needs such as food, energy and industrial production; mobility, health and services provision. The Blueprint will therefore identify means to foster the integration of water and other polices, by improving water resource efficiency and by managing trade-offs through a better understanding of the costs and benefits of both economic activities and water resources management.

We plan to identify policy options in a number of areas. Firstly, we will focus on land use to see what measures could be widely implemented in the EU (e.g. green infrastructure such as reforestation or floodplains restoration, soil management, sustainable urban drainage systems) and the policy instruments that can accelerate their implementation. We are considering a methodological framework for the wider application of payments for ecosystem services and the integration of the above measures into the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), EU regional funds and local planning.

Secondly, the Blueprint will develop a consistent approach for the inter- nalisation of costs from water use and water pollution. The objective of the Blueprint will be to foster the recovery of environmental costs through the application of a portfolio of economic and communication instruments, complementing regulatory instruments. The options to be developed include

fTowards a Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Waters

C O N T E N T S

• Towards a blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Waters 1

• Budapest conference on Real Estate and VAT Green Paper. 4

• A new dawn for the CAP: greener farming and more secure food supplies 6

• EC in brief 7

• My role is to offer traditional techniques a vibrant and contemporary paractice 8

• LIFE+ 3watEr – inspiration for other European regions 10

• MAkE-IT-BE 11

• FFA Warsaw calls for new EU budget to prioritize food and environmental security 12

• Environment: ecosystem services, who pays and how? 14 Student Blogging Competition Award. 15

• Diary dates 2011. 16

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criteria for pricing, taxation, removal of harmful subsidies, public procurements and the setup of water allocation schemes (including tradable permits) in water scarce areas.

Thirdly, we will tackle water efficiency. At present, we do not know the size of the gap in Europe, in 2020 or 2050, between water demand and water availability but we know that there will be one. In this respect, the water and ecosystem accounts, currently developed by the EEA, will provide a useful level of sectoral and geographical detail to understand how much water flows in and out of the river basins. This is the basic essential information which is largely missing today to optimize water uses at river basin level and look at alternatives, in particular considering the material and virtual water flows between catchments.

On this basis, the Blueprint will provide first indications for water efficiency targets at EU level taking into account the great variety of situations across

economic sectors and geographic areas. It will also aim at promoting the development of targets for water efficiency (and quality improvement) in the Member States at sectoral and river basin level.

Fourthly, we will launch a process to identify the main financial, technological, organisational and sociologic barriers to innovation in the area of water resource management, and ways to overcome them.

Finally, the Blueprint will also recognise the global aspects of water policy and reiterate the commitment of the EU to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on access to drinking water and sanitation while taking into account relevant outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference. A major global problem is water availability. As recent studies show, “Competing demands for scarce water resources may lead to an estimated 40% supply shortage

by 2030”.3 The Blueprint will suggest that the EU contribute to address this problem by supporting integrated water management in developing countries. The Blueprint is an ambitious undertaking but this is what we need to make our policy fit the future. I am confident that with the contribution of all stakeholders in an open and participative process we will achieve our objectives.

Peter GammeltOftHead of Unit, Protection of Water ResourcesEuropean Commission DG Environment

1 EEA 2010 State of the Environment Report (SOER), Water, key messages.

2 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/quantity/eu_action.htm#2010

3 Charting our Water Future, MCKinSEy 2010.

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The keynote speech on EU-com-patible patriotic economic de-velopment and Danube strategy

was addressed by Kristóf SzATMáRy, Secretary of State for Internal Trade, Min-istry for National Economy. ‘Best practice’ in the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry were presented by Dr. zol-tán KISS, Vice-President of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The issue of valuation and how Europe-an Valuation Standards and Recognised European Valuers can foster the safety and security of real estate investments was presented by Roger MESSENGER, followed by Financial Economics of En-ergy Efficiency explained by Prof Dirk BROUNEN from Tilburg University. The impact of EU Legislation on Historic Houses” was stressed by Rodolphe de LOOz, UEHHA and Krzysztof GRzESIK, Vice Chairman of TEGoVA presented the large presence and active role of CEE valuers’ associations. Proper discussions turned around three panels. The first one tackled with EU Real Estate Policy – Challenges and Oppor-tunities for Property Owners, and was launched by Michael MACBRIEN, Direc-tor General, EPF. The discussion with the panellists, moderated by Liz PEACE, Chief Executive, British Property Federa-

building stock in solutions to numbers of key challenges that European citizens are facing, both organisations are con-cerned by the fact that the review of the current VAT system could jeopardise the efforts of property owners, investors of listed and non listed buildings, in cities and rural areas, to maintain or refurbish dwellings for rental or selling purposes. Moreover, it is not the right moment, when new Member States are restruc-turing and regenerating their building stock, for the European Union to encour-age the potential limitation of economic incentives in favour of the building sec-tor.

As underlined in this document “The positive outcome of the current reduced VAT system was already experienced and we do not consider the proposal of a uniform VAT system to be cost effective and coherent with regard to the needs at local level. Listed and non-listed his-toric buildings, as well as their park and gardens, should be considered as public goods as they are contributing to the en-vironmental and economic value of the European Union for the benefit of Euro-pean citizens. In addition to cultural and social profit, we wish to emphasize that private historic houses also have great economic value as they assist various lo-cal regional SME activities, creating jobs and attracting tourists.

The micro economy generated by histor-ic buildings is a non-profit asset and we intend to inform and encourage govern-ments and policy-makers at the Europe-an Union to adopt measures, especially VAT reduction that would recognize and support historic houses’ activities. The economic impact that can generate the cultural heritage of a region is often un-known. That is why, we welcomed the Council of Europe‘s decision in October 2010 stating that European cultural

tion and Chairman of the EPF Managing Committee, revolved around such ques-tions as “How can national associations and their European federations coop-erate to achieve results – Who sets the menu? Can small countries make them-selves heard? – Do the different Europe-an property interests cooperate or is it a free for all?

The second one, moderated by Michael MACBRIEN, focused on case studies of national real estate associations and in-dividual companies working through the European Property Federation to have maximum impact on the EU leg-islative process – Sweden, the Nether-lands and Bulgaria.

The third panel was dedicated to the presentations of best practice, new in-ventions, new technologies in the re-newable energy sector in Hungary. Ad-ditionally Béla BéKéSI, President, MIéSz presented the Roma Strategy linked to Real Estate issues. It was also the perfect opportunity to present the joint position of European Historic Houses Association and Euro-pean Landowners Organization on the consultation Green Paper on the fu-ture of the VAT- “Towards a simpler, more robust and efficient VAT sys-tem”. Conscious of the key role of the

Budapest conference on Real Estate and VAT Green Paper.

european historic houses (uehha)

On the 24th of May in Budapest, under the high patronage of the Hungarian

Presidency of the European Union, there took place the conference on real

estate organised by the Federation of Hungarian Real Estate Associations

(MIT), European Property Federation (EPF), European Union of Developers

and Housebuilders (UEPC), European Landowners’ Organisation (ELO), The

European Group of Valuers Associations (TEGoVA) and Union of European

Historic Houses Associations (UEHHA).

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heritage is of exceptional economic im-portance for the tourism industry, gen-erating estimated annual revenue of € 335 billion, and that many of the 9 mil-lion jobs in the tourism sector are linked to it directly or indirectly. Moreover, the market for conservation of this heritage is estimated at some € 5 billion per year.

Europe’s historic environment is particu-larly rich and varied; it is our legacy to the future. We owe it to future generations to make sure it is protected and enhanced. The historic environment enjoys tremen-dous public support and is all around us, manifested most vividly in our historic buildings. These buildings contribute to the economy and citizen education by attracting tourism and investment and

providing a focus for successful regener-ation. Historic buildings are a non-profit sector that generates large incomes to the benefits of the commercial sector (e.g. the hotel and catering industry) but little to its own profit. A reduced VAT rate for the renovation and maintenance of Historic buildings could provide the public authority with an instrument to transfer a fair part of this income back to the non-profit sector. Moreover, these measures would be in coherence with the European Commission ambition to develop EU actions on sustainable tourism. In its Communication adopted in June 2010, the EC is advocating for a European action framework respond-ing to social matters, territorial cohesion and the protection of and capitalisa-

tion on natural and cultural heritage. To achieve the objective to promote the development of sustainable, responsible and high-quality tourism, it is in the EC’s interest to preserve most visible historic buildings of the EU that represent a sig-nificant part of tourism in Europe as we have already pointed out. This heritage has something to offer some of the most pressing issues facing the member states of the EU today: It can help us to define our local, national and European identi-ties - helping us to understand ourselves as well as those around us and stimulate the intercultural dialogue. But we can-not take them for-granted.

Historic buildings are vulnerable. Secur-ing these benefits now and in the future demands action and investment – from the heritage sector, member states work-ing through the fiscal framework of the EU, business and all who care for our her-itage. But these owners and managers need the support of member states and the EU to secure the greater investment and fiscal support needed to maintain historic buildings in good condition, for current and future generations to enjoy. We highlight the particular merits of ap-plying reduced VAT rates to the repair, maintenance and renovation of historic buildings and we offer to discuss these issues with the Commission, as it consid-ers its action following this consultation”.

UEHHA & ELOThe full version of this document is avail-able on request.

european historic houses (uehha)

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Albert DESS (EPP, DE), rapporteur of the resolution for the Agricul-ture Committee stressed that

“This is a clear signal to Commissioner CIOLOS that the new direction for the CAP post-2013 is the one that Parlia-ment is setting and the Commission will have to put forward legislative proposals accordingly”. Committee chair Paolo DE CASTRO (S&D, IT) said “Today’s vote (adopted by 40 votes to 1 with 4 abstentions) is the outcome of a lengthy work process that, as usual, involved all the political groups and has now set out the main principles to govern the new CAP”, namely objec-tive criteria for payments including em-ployment, a new “green” element, more flexibility for Member States and a dedi-cated budget line in the event of market crises. MEPs believe the EU’s agriculture policy needs to gain fresh legitimacy in the

eyes of Europe’s citizens by providing se-cure supplies of high quality food, while contributing to environmental protec-tion and renewable energy. It must be adequately funded to meet its new chal-lenges and to give farmers an incentive to use modern, environmentally friendly techniques. The Agriculture Committee wants aid to be more fairly distributed among Member States and among different categories of farmers. It proposes the gradual replacement of historical sup-port criteria, which have led to dispari-ties, with new, objective criteria. It also welcomed the introduction of a ceiling on direct payments per farmer, as is be-ing suggested by the Commission, and proposed that the size, the employment record and the degree of environmental protection of each farm should be taken into full account.

To avoid misuse of public money, MEPs

also propose that direct payments be re-served for “active farmers”, i.e. those who use land for production. It presses the Commission to provide a clear definition of an “active farmer”, which it says should certainly exclude cases where the ad-ministrative costs of making a payment are higher than the payment itself.

Moreover fighting speculation in agri-cultural commodities is crucial, as well as to reduce extreme price volatility and guarantee greater stability for farmers inside and outside the EU. The Commit-tee proposes a worldwide notification system to defend agricultural stocks in-tended for food security and it supports French proposals made at the G20 on this matter. In any event, the future CAP should be equipped with supply management tools, at zero cost to the EU budget, to prevent overproduction. However, if a crisis occurs, whether due to price fluctuations or other factors, special EU budget funding should quickly be made available to ensure a rapid response. Lastly, MEPs believe new legislation is needed to improve producer organisa-tions’ bargaining power in the food sup-ply chain, with greater price transparen-cy and less unfair commercial practices, and to stop the trend of falling incomes for farmers. The draft resolution will be put to a vote by the full Parliament at the Brussels plenary session of 22/23 June. The Com-mission will unveil its draft legislative package in the autumn, after which Par-liament will have full co-decision powers with the Council on the final content of the legislation.

A new dawn for the CAP: greener farming and more secure food supplies

Source : http://www.europarl.europa.

eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+IM-PRESS+20110523IPR19949+0+DOC+XML+V0//

EN&language=EN

european parliament in brief

As explained by the EP Agriculture Committee “if the EU’s future Com-mon Agricultural Policy is to enjoy the support of all EU taxpayers, it must be equipped to provide food security and environmental protec-tion, create new jobs and provide renewable energy (…) This will mean keeping the EU agriculture budget unchanged so that farmers have a reasonable incentive to meet these new challenges.”

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On the 3rd of May the European Com-mission presented a new Communica-tion on European biodiversity. The new approach described in the strategy aims to bring down high species-extinction rates by 2020, restore natural ecosystems in the EU as far as possible, and contrib-ute more to averting a global problem.

As mentioned in this document «global biodiversity - the wide range of ecosys-tems, species and genetic differences - is under threat. Species extinction rates are extremely high - between 100 and 1 000 times the natural rate. Within the EU, only 17% of species and habitats and 11% of EU-protected ecosystems are doing well. The rest are under pressure, mainly from human activities, or are in decline.»

Therefore, the Communication is focus-ing on six priority targets and related measures : • enforcing EU laws protecting birds

and habitats maintaining and improving ecosystems • restoring at least 15% of areas that have been damaged

• getting farming and forestry to help improve biodiversity

• ensuring sustainable use of fishery resources by reducing catches to sci-entifically determined limits by 2015 - 88% of the EU’s fish stocks are current-ly over-exploited or are significantly depleted

• combating alien species that invade habitats - and currently threaten 22% of the EU’s indigenous species

• stepping up the EU’s contribution to preventing global biodiversity losses

In line with the EU’s international com-mitments under the UN convention on biological diversity, it also aims to meet the targets set by the EU’s resource-effi-cient Europe initiative.

Next, the proposal goes to the European

Parliament and EU governments for dis-cussion and endorsement.

Source : http://ec.europa.eu/news/environ-

ment/110503_en.htm

Our life insurance, our natural capital : an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020

european commission in brief

Resource efficiency - Using less, living better : Green Week 2011

FCS, yFCS and ELO, having taken part the previous few years, continued their active participation, on behalf of their members, in the 11th edition of the Green Week, organised in Brussels from 24 to 27 May by the Direc-torate-General Environment of the European Commission. This year, the largest annual conference on European environment policy was dedicated to resource efficiency, to ad-dress the problem of resource depletion and scarcity, and the challenges and opportuni-ties presented by constraints on resources. As said by Janez POTOCNIK, Commissioner for Environment, in his opening speech : « Resource efficiency is basically common sense (…) We are ‘locked-in’ to resource inefficient behaviour. We have to break out. (…) Many resources have been so cheap for so long that we assume they are plentiful, or at least not under threat (…) The very foundations of the systems in which con-sumers and business operate –energy, industry, transport- will need to fundamentally change. (…) This is why the flagship Initiative for ‘a resource efficient Europe’ is a pillar of Europe 2020. ». During this event, ELO, together with FCS and yFCS, exhibited and attracted a lot of visitors. Planning is already underway for the next Green Week!

for more information: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/greenweek/

Danube Strategy On last 13th of April Member States endorsed the EU Strategy for the Danube Re-gional Affairs Council, proposed by the European Commission on December 2010. As the Danube region covers parts of 8 EU countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania) and 6 non-EU countries (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Ukraine and Mol-dova) with 115 million people living there, the region is facing several challenges such as environmental, transport or energy connections etc. The EU has iden-tified 11 priority areas, which it will focus on.

Source : http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperation/danube/index_en.htm

(redaction)

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Having a passion for the heritage for traditional crafts, which have largely been forgotten over the cen-turies, Jacques DOPPEE has become internationally renowned for his masterpieces. Endowed with un-matched experience and using only traditional methods, Mr. DOPPEE offer admirers handmade, person-alized creations on watermarked paper.

As if emerging from another age, one where monks carefully painted and bound manuscripts,

where correspondence was hand writ-ten on large sheets of watermarked pa-per and sealed with wax, Jacques DOP-PEE seems to posses the same tempered character as he who has found a peace-ful equilibrium between his passion and the imperatives of everyday life. With 33 years of experience, his passion can be described as the “enluminure” style (illumination). Each drawing is cre-ated with precision and carries the eye far beyond, where “Time is no longer the master, it’s the artist who is in control.” (R. MINOT)

Jacques DOPPéE a graduate from the Beaux-Arts Academy sees himself as guardian of this tradition and practices enluminure painting today with a keen knowledge of the past. Each piece of art is unique and utilizes mother-pearl, ivory or even calf-parchment, further enriched with 24 carat-gold engravings. The artist uses a rare collection of waters and natural pigments. His workshop is filled with colours, ground according to ancient methods from special plants - of which he knows all the secrets - and from minerals which release their deep, brilliant colours, which only nature can offer.

With a passion for falconry, hunting and by the plant and animal kingdom in general, he specialises in hunting scenes. Jacques DOPPEE delivers nature in his creations with the exactness, per-fection and attention to detail of a true genius. Unaccustomed to compromises, he dedicates to his work all the attention and patience necessary in order for the result to border on perfection. Further proof of this artist’s talent is his creation of post stamps, obtained using the technique called héliogravure (en-graving), which is the ancestor of today’s

method for producing stamps. He also showed us the drawings made for the occasion of the election of the European Parliament in Belgium - the first pano-ramic stamp - printed on June 5th 1989. Guardian of time and its riches, Jacques DOPPEE stands for the recognition of traditional crafts and is fighting so that these will be delivered to future genera-tions. In this spirit, the union of the fel-lowship of the French Tour, of which he is a member, aims to defend fine crafts-manship and traditional techniques.

His illustrious journey as he defines it: “years of passion, research and travels, at the service of the defence of our herit-age. Dozens of small crafts disappear each year: to revive them, it is neces-sary to (re)discover them.” This is pre-cisely what Jacques DOPPEE intends to achieve with his work.

Created by J.D.J.Jacques Doppéemaster stationary artisan Creator of enluminures on parchmentstel : +32 498 10 16 09creationjdj@gmail.com

My role is to offer traditional techniques for a vibrant and contemporary practice

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The European Landowners’ Organi-sation held a press conference on the LIFE+ project 3WatEr on 10th

March 2011. The conference highlighted the theme of fish farming in the area which was revitalised through a special pond programme, namely the overhaul of an old fish pond on the Nieuwbeek estate belonging to the CRAHAy family. The press conference also presented the project’s new name and communication strategy.

This is a part of restoration of the project area which should improve the current status of targeted habitats and species. Though the fish pond had not produced for 25 years, the fish catch was already between 800 and 900 kg per year. 80 per cent of the catch was now represented by carp weighing between six and nine kilograms. There were also some Euro-pean catfish (five to six kg), ten grass carp (seven to eight kg), a pike (80 cm), bream, crucian carp, rudd and a few small and medium sized fish. According to the fish farmers, a lack of small and medium size fish is the result of predation by herons and cormorants. The European catfish likely came from the Czech Republic. It needs a water tem-perature of at least 18 ˚C which is rare in Belgium. It is a predator which hunts at night and smells its prey with its whisk-

ers. It can live for 80 years and can be six feet long. However, it rarely exceeds 1.5m in Belgium.Frank VASSEN from DG Environment, wel-comed the participants and explained that the LIFE+ programme is one of the main strands of the European Union’s funding programme for the environ-ment. It supports projects that contribute to the implementation of the EU’s Birds and Habitats Directives, the Natura 2000 network and that contribute to the EU’s goal of halting the loss of biodiversity. He commented that the project LIFE+ 3WatEr is a good example of cooperation between private landowners and a public administration.Arne VANDEN BOGAERDE, Project Man-ager, together with Bert VANHOLEN, Agency of Nature and Forestry, presented the project’s new name and communica-tion strategy. Arne VANDEN BOGAERDE explained that one of the project ob-jectives was to enhance awareness of Natura 2000 on a local, regional and na-tional level. Therefore, a special attention was dedicated to the attractiveness of its communication strategy. The project partners believed that the new logo and the new communication strategy should attract the interest of the general public to Natura2000.Thierry de l’ESCAILLE, Secretary General of the European Landowners’ Organiza-

tion (ELO) explained that the project dif-fered from most other nature projects as it went through an extensive private-public partnership and a close collabora-tion among all stakeholders involved in the area such as private landowners and their organisations, the agency of Nature and Forestry together with local commu-nities and regional organisations. The ELO as a coordinating body plays a key role while establishing contact and maintain-ing sustainable collaboration between private landowners and public actors. Such a close collaboration is important to share valuable and practical informa-tion and experience, to enhance mutual understanding and respect among all in-volved stakeholders.

German deputies visit Once again this interesting project attract-ed the interest of politicians, when more then twenty deputies of the Landtag of Saxony came to visit the project area in Heusden-zolder and in Kuringen on 14th March. The visit was organised by the ELO in a close cooperation with the FACE in order to show to deputies how the public-private sector cooperation with a focus on nature conservation works. Heidrun KLEINERT, Natura 2000 Unit, DG Environment explained the implementa-tion of the Natura 2000 network, notably in Germany. A Morning of talks was fol-lowed by the visit of the project area in Kuringen guided by Pierre CRAHAy, ELO. He explained to his guests the history of the project area. During the visit, Pierre CRAHAy illustrated concrete actions for the ecological restoration and conserva-tion of the target habitats and species. Guests raised several questions on a day-to-day project management and im-plementation of the restoration actions. Deputies were inspired by the project and we can hope that cooperation be-tween landowners and the public sector on nature conservation will be more of-ten followed in other European countries.

Barbora BUCKOVaThis project is supported by the Euro-pean Commission Directorate General Environment under the LIFE+ Nature program (Grant Agreement N° LIFE08 NAT/B/000036)

elo and its members

LIFE+ 3watEr – inspiration for other European regions

The European Landowners’ Organisation held a press conference on the LIFE+ project 3WatEr on 10th March 2011. The conference highlighted the theme of fish farming in the area which was revitalised through a special pond programme, namely the overhaul of an old fish pond on the Nieuwbeek estate belonging to the CRAHAY family. The press conference also presented the project’s new name and communication strategy.

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The ELO has been leading the com-munication and dissemination ac-tivities in close collaboration with

ICLEI and has also been responsible for data collection. Furthermore, the pro-ject supports the creation of enabling frameworks, decision-making tools and local partnerships, in four important EU regional contexts: Burgenland in Aus-tria, the Forlì-Cesena province within Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy, the Highlands in Scotland and Slovenia. The purpose of these partnerships is to serve as exchange platforms, enhanc-ing communication between the wide ranges of relevant stakeholders. Within these partnerships, bioenergy agendas will be developed leading to expansion of bioenergy supply chains, addressing investment, markets and services as well as educational courses.

Having established four regional bioen-ergy partnerships, the project partners met in Milan, Italy from 18th to 19th April 2011 to discuss their further develop-ment and to identify opportunities and challenges to current initiatives.

MAKE-IT-BE

elo and its members

LIFE+ 3watEr – inspiration for other European regions

Joachim HACKER, manager of the well-known European Centre for Renewable Energies of Güssing, commented on de-velopment of renewable energies in the Austrian State Burgenland: «Traditional-ly, there is a high share of renewable en-ergy sources in Austria. The state Burgen-land currently produces approximately 60% of electricity out of renewables and a goal is to produce 100% by 2013. Al-though a strong political support and good cross-board cooperation, we still have to face a lack of infrastructure and confusing funding system. Small struc-ture fields and forests also obstruct use of agricultural and forestry residues for bioenergy. Nevertheless, we are currently trying to identify and develop new sup-ply chains. »Andrej GRUM, Slovenian forestry service,

explained the situation in Slovenia: «  In Slovenia, demand focuses on fossil fu-els, notably demand from industry. The use of biomass and other renewable resources is smaller although there is a high potential of solid woody biomass because of an extensive forest area. However, it has not yet been exploited due to some barriers including relatively high harvesting costs due to mountain-ous areas and the fragmentation of for-est ownership. It is crucial to overcome to be able to activate “sleeping” wood bio-mass potential from especially private small scale forests. The situation has been slowly improving since 2006 when a coherent and systematic approach to the development of bioenergy has been in place. »

Chris PERKINS, Rural Development Man-ager of the Highland Birchwoods ex-plored on the situation in Scotland:Matteo zUCCHELLI, representing CRPV (Vegetal Production Research Centre) commented the development in Forlì-Cesena is is more and more interested in sustainable development policies, notably in renewable energy. Since 2004, the region has followed its own energy plan focused on the promotion and im-plementation of renewable energies. In 2008, the region produced approximate-ly 15% of electricity out of renewables»

All the main project results will be pre-sented during the final conference of the MAKE-IT-BE project which will be held in Brussels on 5th October 2011. The conference will be organised in a close collaboration with partner projects BEn and BioEnerGIS. More information on the final event will be available on the project website www.makeitbe.eu

Barbora BUCKOVa

The MAKE-IT-BE Project, co-funded by the Executive Agency for Competitive-

ness and innovation, aims at the development and implementation of inte-

grated bioenergy chains across Europe.

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The ongoing negotiations on the new EU budget (2014-2020) will have a signifi-cant impact on the extent and ambition of the reform of the Common Agriculture Policy. As a consequence, participants and delegates urged EU decision-makers working on the new budget not to un-dermine the drive for sustainable agricul-ture in Europe, which can deliver signifi-cant economic, social and environmental benefits both here and around the world.

In this context, delegates focused on the recent FAO figures1 showing rocketing food prices leading to food insecurity and political instability in many coun-tries in 2011. Delegates strongly argued that the CAP reform must not fail to take this threat seriously, and must ensure adequate budgetary resources to sup-port sustainable agriculture practices in

FFA Warsaw calls for new EU budget to prioritize food and environmental security

Europe, particularly the need to reverse losses in the biodiversity upon which food production depends.

“While terrorism remains an imminent and active threat in the minds of many today, we must not lose sight of other important global dangers, such as the safety and security of our food supply,” said former Secretary of the U.S. Depart-ment of Homeland Security Michael CHERTOFF. “Ensuring a stable and sus-tainable food supply can not only lead to less hunger and malnutrition, but also to more stable economies and stronger communities that enhance the overall safety and security of nations around the world.”

He was addressing the opening speech of the 1st panel, dedicated to refocusing

security on food and nature. Comments were done by Leszek KORzENIOWSKI, President AGRI Committee, Sejm (Pol-ish Parliament) ; Pia BUCELLA, Director Nature, Biodiversity and Land Use in DG Environment, EC and Jerzy PLEWA, Dep-uty Director General in DG Agriculture, EC. Panellists focused on efficiency of feeding people, including waste of food and food safety where contamination of food could be used as weapon. The issue of “land migration” was also raised including food prices and food peace topics. Leszek KORzENIOWSKI made the bridge from global approach to a Polish perspective. He mentioned the need of having a profitable production of food, as a major issue linked to food safety.

Presenting the Polish government posi-tion, which stands for not to lowering the support for farmers, he highlighted the need for modernization of the rural areas. As no representative from Ministry of Ag-riculture was present, Mr KORzENIOWSKI explained their position on the issue of “active farmer” and on the unification of direct payments. He also mentioned the problem of the food supply chain and the position of intermediates, and his support for the law on direct sales, as well as for the modification of the current tax system. He concluded underlining the need to have a common sense in all ac-tions we undertake, starting by funding available to farmers, access to modern technologies and improvement of infra-structure (such as storage) or the size of farms.

Pia BUCELLA focused on how to produce more from less, especially less impact on nature. She underlined the environmen-tal perspective, enhance by the approach of Franz FISCHLER is his reform of CAP. Today the CAP has to contribute to pub-lic goods (such as environment, climate challenges, biodiversity protection) and face such demands as greening of direct payments or cross-compliance simplifi-cation, including the requirements from WFD (Water Framework Directive).

The CAP reform was tackled by Leszek DEREzINSKI (FzDiWz) in his address on

forum for the future of agriculture

The EU must prioritize financial support for food production and environ-mental services through the new Common Agriculture Policy, according to FFA Regional Conference held the 10th of May in Warsaw, Poland. Organized under the auspices of Polish Minister of Agriculture Marek SAWICKI in close collaboration with the Polish Federation of Union of Agricultural Employers-Tenants and Landowners (FZDiWZ) and Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), two months before Poland takes over the EU Presidency, the Confer-ence also focused on the fact that such support is vital not only for Europe but also broader geo-political security.

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behalf of Polish farmers & growers: “Princi-ples of Common Agricultural Policy have to support sustainable intensive farming, as only effective and competitive “indus-trial farming” can insure a steady supply of high quality, affordable food in Europe. This is why I disagree with the idea of a maximum ceiling on subsidies for indus-trial farms”.

The next session was dedicated to Sus-tainability in farming: public and private point of views with panellists Prof. Dr hab. Edward MAJEWSKI, SGGW; Maive RUTE, Director Biotechnologies, Agriculture, Food, DG Research& Innovation, EC ; prof Walenty POCzTA, Poznan University of

Life Sciences ; dr Mirosław DRyGAS, Pol-ish Academy of Sciences- PAN ; dr Mari-usz MACIEJCzAK, SGGW; Mihail ORLOV, Ambika Group, Russia and Marek BAR-yLKO, FzDiWz.

Speaking in his capacity as Conference co-chair and moderator, Syngenta’s Theo JACHMANN, said: “Today’s meeting has again shown the important role which agriculture plays in delivering not only safe, healthy, affordable food, but in the broader economic, social and environ-mental stability and security both here and around the world. An important message delivered today by many of the participants and delegates was the ab-solutely critical role which innovation in farm technology and practices will play in this respect, providing growers and farmers with the tools they need to sus-tainably produce what we ask of them. I hope that decision makers across the EU, as well as in Brussels, will listen to them”. Issues on CAP in the spotlight were ad-dressed by Prof. Allan BUCKWELL, CLA, President of ELO Policy Group, UK ; Min-daugas KUKLIERIUS, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Lithuania; prof Andrzej KOW-ALSKI, Director of IERiGz and Anders MIK-KELSEN, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Denmark. ELO Secretary General and FFA founding partner Thierry de l’ESCAILLE concluded: “The European contribution to world food security is important and

therefore it is crucial that the new CAP will provide land managers with suffi-cient financial means, so that they could continue to play their role in combating famine in Europe and beyond. It is crucial to reward land managers adequately for their goods and services, notably pub-lic goods for which there are no mar-kets. Water storage, carbon sequestra-tion and biodiversity are a few examples of services provided by European land managers to each European citizen. Biodiversity conservation objectives are particularly challenging and will demand additional financial means.2 The new CAP should focus on the right incentives to enable to EU land managers them to keep doing their job and thus contribute to sustainability in Europe.”

Those discussion will be pursue on the 18th of October in Paris (to register please go to http://www.forumforagricul-ture.com/index.php)

ffa team

1 http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/50519/icode/

2 On May 3, 2011, the European Commission adopted a new strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU by 2020. More information at: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/policy/index_en.htm

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Syngenta

Brussels Office

Avenue Louise, 240B – 1050 Brussels

Tel : +32.2.642 2727Fax : +32.2.642 2720

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Environment: ecosystem services, who pays and how?

The story of the negotiation pro-cess that took place in Vittel, leading to technological mod-

ernisation of farming techniques and a complete reconversion of the agricul-tural landscapes, is essentially a story about Payments for Ecosystem Services. Having explored all the available options to reduce the business risk connected to water contamination, Vittel Waters concluded that the best way to secure long-term water quality was to provide an incentive-based mechanism through individual payments to farmers, coupled with technical assistance. Negotiations led to a successful outcome in the mid-1990s.

Following the definition of PES by WUN-DER (2005), this is the case of “a volun-tary transaction where a well-defined environmental service (or a land-use likely to secure that service) is being ‘bought’ by a buyer (Vittel Waters) from an environmental service provider (Vit-tel farmers) if the provider secures provi-sion of ecosystem services”. In Vittel, the conditionality of the agreement relies on farmers switching from maize to pasture and implementing technologies to pre-vent water contamination.

Voluntary agreements aimed at creating market mechanisms that assign value to ecosystem services are taking place all over the world. They range from Public-Private-Partnerships to secure sustain-

able land management in the SCaMP project in North-West England, to gov-ernments paying landowners to pre-serve forest biodiversity in Costa Rica, to international markets for carbon credits under a Kyoto-style mechanism.

Every PES agreement addresses the cause of under-provision of ecosystem services: these services are rarely com-pensated through a price mechanism, thus there is little incentive to provide them, despite the benefits accruing from them.

Farmers and forest managers are often identified as the main providers of eco-system services. Agro-ecosystems offer regulating services such as flood control, water quality, pollination, and carbon storage. PES can play a fundamental role in rewarding farmers for such services.

Likewise, incentives can be given to farmers so that agricultural practices do not compromise ecosystem resilience, for instance through nutrient runoff and greenhouse gases emissions. A similar rationale applies to forest owners. The additional effect of PES is hence to turn farmers and foresters into ecosystem managers, by offering the appropriate monetary rewards and diffusing the knowledge of best practices.

A more difficult question to answer is: who should be paying for ecosystem

services, and how? The first step to an-swer this question is to identify the beneficiaries of different ecosystem services. The second step is to estimate an economic value for the services in question. The third step requires finding a payment method which is not only of-fering an efficient incentive to providers, but also takes equity and sustainability considerations into account. Identifying beneficiaries is challenging, due to the ‘public nature’ of ecosystem services. In Vittel, the commercial benefit for the water company was an essential driver for the direct beneficiary to seek a volun-tary agreement. In other cases, however, benefits accrue to several stakeholders and to society as a whole either at the local or global level. PES is also slowed down by the lack of clear ownership.

In these instances, indirect users such as local or national governments often pay for ecosystem services through the rev-enues collected by general taxation.

The Sustainable Catchment Manage-ment Programme (SCaMP) in North-West England is an example of a partner-ship between private companies (United

Yfcs

At the end of the 1980s, 37 farms in the catchment area of the Vittel water

springs, in north-eastern France, produced maize under an intensive agri-

cultural regime. However, this caused severe nitrate contamination for the

aquifers of Vittel, located downstream. The Vittel water company’s business

success relied on the good quality of that very same spring water. If the level

of nitrate concentration had gone above 4.5mg per litre, Vittel would not

have been able to label its water as ‘natural mineral water’ according to

French law, potentially seeing its business of 1 billion water bottles sold every

year vanishing .

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Utilities), a charity (RSPB) and the nation-al government (DEFRA) to improve the provision of ecosystem services by farm-ers (watershed managements, reduced runoff, tree-planting). The SCaMP is hence funded both by direct users – the utility companies – and by indirect users in the form of philanthropic donations and public grants. Does the SCaMP pro-mote an efficient allocation of payments among different beneficiaries?

The question boils down to a valuation issue – this is where research in the field of environmental accounting is helpful. In Vittel, the value of alternative farming practices was captured by the improvedlevel of profitability of bottled water. In the SCaMP, the beneficiaries can be di-vided into two groups.

For the utility companies interested in water streams, values reflect the costs of water management and the poten-tial revenue losses. The British society as a whole represents a second group. For them, other option values (the value of sustainable rural management for future users) and non-use values (the aesthetic and recreational benefits of a beautiful countryside) are also important. Thus the different financial contributions in the SCaMP mirror the benefits to direct and local users as well as to indirect ones.

The third step, finding an efficient and equitable payment method, relies both on a correct identification of beneficiar-ies and a proper valuation of ecosystem

services. Each payment should reach theindividual or group responsible for either a specific action (e.g. land use change) or a specific outcome (e.g. reduction in car-bon emissions). Payments also need to be tailored to the correct time horizon,ensuring that sellers are willing to par-ticipate when their additional costs are compensated and that ecosystem ser-vices are sustained over time. Besides, PES can be coupled with efforts to im-prove rural livelihoods and diversify farmers’ incomes.

Some additional costs could arise as PES agreements are implemented. Transac-tion costs between buyers and sellers will often be high, especially if resource ownership and use is highly fragmented.Even when private companies are will-ing to pay, they may pass part of the costs onto consumers through higher prices. This in turn may take the form of

eco-labelling, whereby customers self-select themselves depending on the en-vironmental premium they are willing to pay. Thus whichever the normative ap-proach taken in defining PES schemes, the end payment may come from peo-ple who were not originally included in the agreement.

At a time of ecosystem depletion, grow-ing world population, high and volatile food prices and anthropogenic climate change, different stakeholders should come together to implement PES schemes. A partnership between farm-ers and foresters, research institutes and NGOs, policy-makers and corporations to protect European ecosystems would be a positive contribution for the devel-opment of agricultural policy in the EU.

lorenzo CaSUllO

Student Blogging Competition Award.

In the run-up to this year’s FFA, The RISE Foundation, the ELO and Syngenta launched a student blogging competition to engage the younger generation of thinkers in the debate about the future of agriculture.

Students were asked to think about the role of the CAP in combating domestic and world food security challenges, and also to give their suggestions on how to pay for and safeguard ecosystem services.

Below, you can read the winning entries chosen by a jury composed of: Corrado PIRzIO-BIROLI (Vice Chairman of the RISE Foundation), Bernard GRACIET (Senior Public Affairs Advisor, Syngenta), Ladislav MIKO, (Deputy-Director General for the food chain, DG SANCO, European Commission) and Tassos HANIOTIS (Director, Directorate for Economic Analysis, Perspectives and Evaluations, DG AGRI, European Commission).

The two winners, Lorenzo CASULLO from Cambridge University and Rich-ard BLIAULT from the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, were pre-sented with their prizes by Franz FISCHLER and Ladislav MIKO during the Forum for the Future of Agriculture on March 15th in front of the audience of delegates present.

They have won 500€, a signed book from FFA speakers, an expenses-paid visit to the FFA conference and a visit to Syngenta’s leaf demonstration farm in Berkshire.

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is a publication of ELOin English and French

Publisher :Thierry de l’ESCAILLE

Chief editor :Emmanuelle MIKOSZ

Rue de Trèves, 67B - 1040 Bruxelles

Tel. : 00 32 (0)2 234 30 00Fax : 00 32 (0)2 234 30 09

countryside@elo.orgInternet Site :www.elo.org

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16th of July, Sopot, PolandEnergy use of biomass from agriculture as an important element of Common Agricultural Policy, discussion under Polish presidency concerning energy use and the development of renewable energy sources in rural areashttp://pl2011.eu/en/content/energy-use-biomass-agriculture-important-element-common-agricultural-policy

19- 21 July, Oryol, RussiaRussian Forum « Agrarian Regions of Russia: Black Earth » - conference on one of the most productive agricultural land in the worldwww.idk.ru

2-3 August, Novosibirsk, RussiaIV international conference « Grains Siberia »Siberia is one of the most important grain producers in Russia, and the exist-ence of this « grain corridor » is one the most important today’s’ challenges in the region. www.idk.ru

6 – 8 September, near Wolfsburg, Germany Wildlife Estates Initiative (WE) Plenary Sessionwww.wildlife-estates.eu

30 September - 02 October, Brussels UEHHA General Assembly: How to value Cultural Heritage trough tourism and economic activities?www.uehha.org

5th October, BrusselsMake –It-Be conference, summarising the actions on bio-energy chains, co-organised by ELOwww.makeitbe.eu

18th October, Paris4th Forum for the Future of Agriculture Regional Conference on the CAP reform: co-organised by ELO and Syngenta.http://www.forumforagriculture.com/index.php

Prepared by PwC and Landwell & AssociésEditions Francis LefebvreISBN : 978- 2- 85115-867-3

For many, Sustainable Development limits itself only to respect to the environment. This is wrong, as two other pillars exist: the economic growth and the social progress. For the enterprises, this means that their objectives cannot only be limited to the benefit of share holders and financial partners. Sustainable Development obliges enterprises to change and to adapt to new level of performance by integrating other stakeholders: NGOs, the scientific community, media, residents, elected representatives….but also providers, clients, subcontractors and employees. Facing those new challenges, experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers and Landwell& Associés, pioneers in Sustainable Development en-terprises advice has prepared a book on practical aspects of some 23 subjects, 17 functions of enterprise and 13 different activity sectors. This book delivers advice for all those who are a part of operational management and heads of companies of all sizes on how to achieve their sustainable growth: adapting the business models; “boost” sales; calculated true factory price; revise the communication; to control new risks; how to use the fiscal lever; mobilise human resources; insure the stability of family shareholders (company heritage); redefine public policies; rethink the administration management and big projects (public sector).All those answering such questions as: Why adapt? Where to start? Which difficulties to overcome? How to be helped by the specialists? prizes, including a MacArthur Fellowship, the United Nations Environment Prize, Japan’s Blue Planet Prize, and twenty-five honorary de-grees.

D I A R Y D A T E S 2 0 1 1

Sustainable Development- strategic and operational aspects