The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Farm2Forest

Effects of agricultural policy reform on biodiversity and ecosystem services in mixed farming-forestry landscapes.

Farm2Forest links scenarios, economic and ecological modelling of biodiversity and ecosystem services to understand how future agricultural policy will affect marginal farming regions in Sweden.

Farming in marginal areas with its resulting mosaic of forests, afforestation, and heterogeneous farmland maintains biodiversity and ecosystem services in Europe. Such areas are though dependent on support from Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments.

It is unclear how CAP reform after 2020, in conjunction with the rise of the bio-based economy, will affect

  1. the distribution of farming, forestry and intermediate land-use forms in marginal areas,
  2. the extent and location of biodiversity and ecosystem services impacts, and
  3. what alternative policy might efficiently ensure their preservation.

This project addresses these questions in a spatially-explicit manner for three contrasting marginal farming areas in Sweden. Predictions for different policy scenarios obtained with existing agricultural agent-based models will be translated to GIS landscape models, and combined with biodiversity and ecosystem service models parametrized based on upscaling empirical data (biodiversity surveys and respondent interviews) purposefully collected in the project, supplemented with existing data.

An interdisciplinary multi-methods approach covering multiple sectoral drivers, conservation-relevant species groups (birds, plants, and flowervisiting insects) and ecosystem services (cultural and production) as well as tight collaboration with policy-makers and land managers will generate significant decision-support for European, national and regional policy and administration in changing times.

Three photos: pile of timber, agricultural landscape and grazing cows.
How will agricultural policy afffect biodiversity and ecosystem services in marginal farming regions in Sweden?

Research

Learn more about the research within Farm2Forest

Farm2Forest publications

Scientific and popular science publications are listed here