Example "medium scale - low yields": biotope management
Many biotopes are created by agriculture in the last centuries. They need traditional farming measures to keep their structure and functions. Traditional farming is usually not profitable an-ymore. Biotope management contracts are a possibility to remain with traditional farming and have sufficient income. It is is the strategic care, restoration, and sustainable use of natural habi-tats - also known as biotopes - to preserve biodiversity and maintain the health of ecosystems. Despite its importance, many biotopes are under threat. Across the European Union , for ex-ample, only around 15% of habitats protected under the Habitats Directive are in a “favourable” state, while more than 80% are classified as being in poor or bad condition (Matthies et al. 2023).
This practice encompasses a range of activities, from controlling invasive species and reintro-ducing native flora and fauna, to using targeted methods like grazing, mowing, or rewilding to maintain ecological balance. The core aim is to support the natural processes that sustain life and ensure the long-term resilience of our landscapes (Alix et al. 2022).
Biotope-relevant farmland, classified as High-Nature-Value Farmland (HNVF), varies widely across EU states. Nearly one-third of agricultural land in the EU is HNVF and covers approxi-mately 74.66 million hectares. Agri-environmental schemes in the EU and UK offer financial incentives for farmers to protect hedgerows, maintain flower-rich margins, and restore wetlands or heathlands (Cullen et al. 2021). The EU allocates 25–32 % of Common Agricultural Pro-gramme (CAP) funding toward agri-environmental and climate objectives, equivalent to 15 billion Euro per year on average. In the UK, 1 billion GBP per year focused on biodiversity and habitat management. Other continents don’t practice agri-environmental schemes, as far as we know. The informal co-existence of nature and agriculture is similar but has more conflict potential (food or nature: integration versus segregation).
Photo 1: Sowing rare grain varieties with horses on the former border between East- and West-Germany, the Green Belt. This is uncommon in Germany today. Rare segetal flora (field flora: weeds) is also actively introduced. Without contractual nature conservation premiums, this would no longer be economically viable. This cultivation was established on the former border strip between West and East Germany after reunification and removing the fences and mines. This “cold war” fence of 1,400 km has divided East and West Germany from 1961 to 1989 (“iron curtain ”): even a mouse could not pass through. Today it is not an “iron curtain” any-more, but a “green belt” for nature and memorial.
In contracted biotope management, traditional agriculture is maintained under certain conditions. The contracts are made between nature protection authorities and the farmers. The contracts are done for a specific period of years and only for the plots, which must be protected. These condi-tions primarily involve refraining from using mineral fertilizers so that the soil remains degraded and plants retain a basis for life that is endangered in intensively fertilized areas (weak competi-tion: xeromorphic, oligotrophic). Sandy or calcareous nutrient-poor grasslands and wild herb communities are thus preserved. Other key conditions include the renunciation of pesticides, the alteration of grassland areas through reseeding, restrictions on usage periods (late and short usage), low livestock density, and/or the use of endangered livestock breeds or seeds. Supple-mentary feeding of grazing animals is generally not permitted, despite the low quality of the forage. Weather protection is also limited, which makes animal-friendly grazing difficult (Rahmann 1998).
Management premiums from nature conservation measures ensure economic viability for agri-culture that engages in contractual nature conservation (Rahmann 2000). There are also pro-grams to support barn construction, the purchase of equipment and machinery, fencing, the planting of desirable trees and shrubs, and water management measures. There are also many marketing initiatives and support measures for the commercial marketing of products from con-tractual nature conservation.
If agriculture is no longer available in the region of the biotope or is not willing to engage in biotope management with traditional agriculture, associations or state institutions step in to man-age the land. This is often the case in disadvantaged regions (hilly and mountainous areas, moors and wetlands, scrubby or stony areas, very small plots of land, water bodies and their edges).
Photo 2: Moving of biomass on wetlands by small and big machines, if animals are not avail-able and farming is gone. The example above is done by volunteers on weekends (very cheap/ha). The moor mowing in the picture below is done with a special machine from a special-ized service provider (very expensive/ha). Those can be farmers or farms, who have the knowledge and equipment. This is done seasonally and as special activity, additionally to the farming and additionally to the income (between volunteers and specialists).
Photo 3: Due to the decline in sheep farming over the last 100 years, especially in northern Europe such as Germany, nutrient-poor grasslands are endangered. These can be preserved through traditional sheep grazing. Landscape conservation with sheep is the most important area of contractual nature conservation and vis-a-versa, subsidies and premiums account for 60-90% of total income of sheep keeping in Germany. Biotope management is not only preserving bio-topes. It also maintaining agriculture in remote less-favored regions, supporting sheep farming and protecting endangered old sheep breeds (e.g. Rhön sheep, Coburg sheep, Heidschnucken, mountain sheep, dairy sheep). This is also important for the agro-tourism sector, which likes a well-maintained traditional and used landscape. But there is not always sunshine. Sheep farming must also be practiced in winter when there are no tourists. Traditional farming methods such as transhumance are also difficult, e.g. due to car traffic on the hiking trails. Sheep farming is hard work and needs a lot of tolerance to balance the needs of animal husbandry, contracts demand, public and tourists’ expectations as well as sufficient income and livelihood.
Photo 4: Iceland ponies and 'Heck' cattle, a recrossing of the wild aurochs, are used for peat-land biotope management, like in the moor of the nature reserve "Hühnerfeld". They help to con-trol the bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) and the moor grass (Molinia caerulea). Bracken is poisonous; the leaves contain active substances such as the enzyme thiaminase, which causes poisoning in horses, goats and pigs by destroying vitamin B1. The feed value is very low, and it is usually not eaten by the animals, if alternative feed is available. The ponies and cattle help to control bracken with their trampling. The Molinia is grazed by the cattle and ponies. The feed is very low, just enough to survive. Growing youngstock and pregnant/lactating adults should not depend on this feed.
Photo 5: Goats have not created any biotopes in Germany. However, they are now often used in contractual nature conservation to reduce woody plant succession. They are cheaper than manual woody plant control with motorized scythes. The picture below shows how few woody plants have regrown on an area that was cleared four years ago, compared to the plot where there were no goats.
Figure: In a four-year biotope management experiment in Germany (Witzenhausen) of shrub control with or without goats (stocking density: about 1,000 to 1,300 goat-days/ha and year) could be show, that goats are excellent to control shrub succession. Without any measure, about 2 tons of biomass are growing per ha and year, what is the problem for protected biodiversity. After a cleaning (motor scythes) there was even more, with 2.5 tons/ha/year. If goats are used, there was only 0.661 tons/ha/year and with both, cleaning and goat grazing, only 0.435 tons/ha/year. With goat grazing are not only the shrub control costs lower, but meat is also produced as well.
Source: Rahmann (2000)
Table: Cleaning costs of one ha shrub invaded biotope with different scenarios for goat con-tracting payments (USD/ha/year)
Source: Calculated with data from Rahmann 2000
The combined cleaning of shrub invaded pasture (60% of the plant cover) is the most cost-efficient way. The annual costs are about 900 USD/year. Every 4 years manual cleaning is near-ly 4 times higher. The goat contracting with 200 USD/ha/year is comparative cheap for the na-ture protection authorities. The goat-keeper would need higher payments, to achieve a salary of 10 USD/labor hour. The total labor work per ha and year is about 30 to 40 hours. The annual meat production while biotope management was between 28 and 115 kg liveweight and the rev-enues between 70 and 150 USD per ha and year. The goat-based cleaning of the shrub invaded biotopes would need a payment between 400 (200% real payments) and 600 USD per ha and year, double resp. triple as much as really paid. With a fair payment the goat grazing would re-main be the cheapest cleaning costs.