People, nature and large herbivores in a shared landscape: A mixed‐method study of the ecological and social outcomes from agriculture and conservation

Abstract

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Rewilding—The farmers’ perspective. Perceptions and attitudinal support for rewilding among the English farming community

“…The first of these beliefs is factually incorrect: England is one of the most biodiversity‐depleted countries in the world (Sanchez‐Ortiz et al, 2019). The second assumption, regarding the relative ecological inefficacy of rewilding, remains largely unverified, highlighting the need for more research into multidimensional outcomes of different land‐use scenarios (Balfour et al, 2021). Addressing the challenges to rewilding presented by these mental models requires robust data and social engagement, ideally through participatory processes that facilitate social learning and potential revision of beliefs (Welp et al, 2006).…”

Agro-ecological farming in (peri)urban protected areas

“…• Lack of metrics and targets (Balfour et al, 2021) • Lack of methods and tools (Penvern et al, 2019;Balfour et al, 2021) • Expensive and time consuming (Balfour et al, 2021) • Many confounding variables (Penvern et al, 2019) • Complex to interpret results (Penvern et al, 2019;Balfour et al, 2021) • Insufficient data (Landert et al 2020. ) • Difficult to involve farmers (Noe, Halberg and Reddersen, 2005) Every farming context is different…”

“…• Impact on a scale of square kilometres is less clear (Loos and von Wehrden, 2018) • Agro-ecological measures might be very fragmented on a landscape scale (Dutton et al, 2008) Agri-environment schemes insufficient to halt biodiversity loss in farming land (Magda et al, 2015) • Fragmented and incoherent conservation actions across the landscape (Dutton et al, 2008) • Trade-off between biodiversity gain and flexibility and ease of implementation (Dutton et al, 2008) • Gain a solid understanding of how farming practices influence ecosystem functions and services (Wittwer et al, 2021) • Agroscope tool to test multifunctionality outcome of different cropping systems (Wittwer et al, 2021) • Monitoring process in dialogue with farmer (Noe, Halberg and Reddersen, 2005) Adapt management to context of site (Balfour et al, 2021) • E.g. "Adopt a sheep scheme": the specificity of the scheme, its appropriateness to its environmental and social context, is fundamental to its success (Holloway et al, 2006) • Account for different understandings of sustainability developed in specific contexts (Holloway et al, 2006) Integrated landscape approach (Dutton et al, 2008) • Consider the collective performance of different sites (Balfour et al, 2021) • Integrate farming and non-farming activities throughout a larger area (Wezel et al, 2016) Focusing on effective agri-environment schemes…”

“…• How to prioritise support? (Balfour et al, 2021) • Complex administration (European Union, 2018;Dutton et al, 2008;Hammes et al, 2016) • Lack of alignment between different programs (Hammes et al, 2016) • Uncertainty linked to political changes (European Union, 2018)…”

“…• Common ground: good soil quality (Gabel et al, 2018;Balfour et al, 2021) • Increase comprehension and build trust (Ricart and Rico-Amorós, 2021) • Process-supporting tools (Ricart and Rico-Amorós, 2021) • agro-ecological farming: most multi-functional and best compromise between people and nature needs (Balfour et al, 2021) • Environment must be an ally, not an enemy (Ricart and Rico-Amorós, 2021) • Dialogue between farmers and biologists (Noe, Halberg and Reddersen, 2005) • Involving farmers in monitoring process can challenge farmers' assumptions on ecological impact and increase reflections on future management (Noe, Halberg and Reddersen, 2005) Knowledge creation • Lack of knowledge of ecological processes and ecosystem services (Ricart and Rico-Amorós, 2021) • Wildlife advisors lack knowledge and tools (Noe, Halberg and Reddersen, 2005) Lack of communication • People vs nature needs (Balfour et al, 2021) • Creation and training of farm advisory services (European Union, 2018)…”