Effect Based Nature Subsidy Scheme

The Danish Agricultural Agency develops and tests a new type of inspection methods for nature conservation, which better supports the effect of the management. The aim is to bring the achieved nature value into focus, rather than to inspect grazing and mowing itself.

As a partner in LIFE IP - Natureman, the Danish Agricultural Agency makes use of the opportunity to test effect-based inspection parameters in a pilot project within the project boundary for Natureman. This means that farmers participating in the project testing will be inspected for the natural value obtained on the land. We work closely with the other partners of the project, and with the involvement of farmers and nature managers, their agricultural consultants and other agricultural industry.

The development of the inspection is financed by the Danish Agricultural Agency as a complementary funding for the LIFE project.

In the first instance, the Danish Agricultural Agency got the University of Aarhus to make a number of recommendations for the inspection, which was published in the report, Biodiversity indicators for a effect-based nature subsidy scheme, 31 October 2018.

On November 16, 2018, the Danish Agricultural Agency, in collaboration with the LIFE partners, held a workshop on biodiversity indicators. The University of Aarhus also participated and presented the report and indicators. There was great support for the workshop, which included among others nature managers, agricultural consultants, representatives from municipalities, the Danish Nature Agency, SEGES and several interest organizations.

The Danish Agricultural Agency subsequently asked the University of Aarhus (AU) to prepare detailed descriptions (technical instructions) for a handful of indicators from the report. The technical instructions were tested in the field in the summer of 2019 in a collaboration between the AU, partners in the LIFE IP project and the Danish Agricultural Agency area inspectors.

During 2020, the Danish Agricultural Agency expects to be able to initiate concrete experiments with new inspection methods. This will be done in close cooperation with farmers and their agricultural consultants.

Read more about the work of the Danish Agricultural Agency here.