Hungary entered the last round of the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Planning (CAP-SP) process by having the final public consultation on the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the CAP.
The SEA is highlighting the importance of the new assessment, which is much more a supportive document aiming the improvement of ambitions of the CAP-SP and minimization of environmental risks. Therefore, the SEA was started in the beginning of the CAP-SP process and following it till the final submission.
Besides the general structure of the SEA process the main identified focus areas are avoid environmental risks, mitigation of environmental conflicts provided by land-use, such as
- reduction of agricultural land-use, land-use change
- Intensive, till based production
- Pesticide use
- Artificial nutrition use
- Habitat degradation, fragmentation, and extinguishing.
Most important recommendations of the SEA to the CAP-SP:
- Permanent grass land-protection to be embed to the parcel level registry.
- Further protection obligations on wet-lands and peatlands to be provided by 2025
- More strict obligations to be provided on the water bodies flood-protection areas, exact land-use types to be identified
- Recommendation to be provided on in-water/temporary water bodies preservation
- Recommendation on min-till practice use in environmentally sensitive parcels (threatened by drought, in-water, erosion), land-use change is recommended
- Increasement of the minimal space of "landscape assets" elements, new element types to be elaborated (silvo-pastural, left-wood grasslands, archaeological potentials ranges).
Report of the CAP Strategic Plan: https://mtvsz.hu/uploads/files/KAP_2023-2027_STRAT_TERV_20211230_SKV_EGYEZTETES.pdf
Report of the CAP SEA: https://mtvsz.hu/uploads/files/KAP_SKV_kornyezeti_jelentes_v1_5.pdf and the announcement by CEEweb member Hungarian Friend of Earth (Magyar Természevédők Szövetsége - MTVSZ) https://mtvsz.hu/kap-strategia-kornyezeti-vizsgalata
The Commission adopted the FADN system convert to Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN), under the ‘Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 of 30 November 2009 setting up a network for the collection of sustainability data of agricultural holdings in the Union’ title.
AS of the general process of the Commission the EC is waiting for your feedback till 17th August.
The new structure of farm level data collection might be in operation in 2026, about the 2025 accounting year.
The first aim of the FSDN to provide comparable data on agricultural processes on economic, social and environmental levels for many statistical evaluation reasons and embed to several processes, such as
- CAP’s Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) meant to provide databased control system on CAP schemes,
- Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS) provide comparable data on the agricultural holdings of the EU,
- CAP monitoring and evaluation framework (CMEF).
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12951-Conversion-to-a-Farm-Sustainability-Data-Network-FSDN-_en
From the link above you can download the Explanatory Memorandum, the new divisions list and the result summery of the stakeholder consultation on the proposal back from 2021 together with the actions taken to full-fill the requirements of this consultation.
The consultation of the proposed regulation required:
- the simplification of the FADN data collection.
After the research on potential simplifications, concluded that parallelities should be reduced and the total administrational burdens of farms must be aimed, it occurred that remote sensing data collection should be taken place especially by the European Space program (https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/eu-space-policy/eu-space-programme_en).
- reduce/limit financial costs of the data collection
highlighting the importance of data harmonization on all potential statistical use.
EU Green Week is the annual event to discuss European environmental policy, now focuses on the European Green Deal - the EU’s sustainable and transformative growth strategy for a resource-efficient and climate-neutral Europe by 2050 https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en.
The hybrid event starts on 30th May and end on 5th July with several side events.
The open ceremony was started by Ursula Van Der Leyen highlighting the importance of circular economy transition, citizen involvement and global impact. The up-coming years are envisaged by many new acts such as the Deforestation Law (https://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/deforestation-proposal.htm), the Nature restoration Law (https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/biodiversity-strategy-2030/eu-nature-restoration-targets_en) and the new EU Taxonomy (https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/banking-and-finance/sustainable-finance/eu-taxonomy-sustainable-activities_en) together with the revitalization of the Circular Economy Monitoring (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/circular-economy/indicators/monitoring-framework), all are under preparation.
Stockholm+50 process (https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/37743/SAP.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y) is commemorating the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/stockholm1972) and celebrate 50 years of global environmental action, in the mean time revising the "Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for Human Rights" (https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/NL7/300/05/IMG/NL730005.pdf?OpenElement) which concluded to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
The Stockholm +50 process aims to fitness-check the targets of the original Stokholm Declaration by anchored in the Decade of Action (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/decade-of-action/).
As a reaction on the process the Global Youth published its expectations towards the actual process and the main demands for the accelerating the so called transformative change (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344537441_Moving_Towards_Transformative_Change_for_Biodiversity_Harnessing_the_Potential_of_the_Post-2020_Global_Biodiversity_Framework , https://www.cbd.int/article/biodiversityloss-2meant) to drive the globe economy to a sustainable way. The policy paper mentions stop deforestation as one of the most important act to be implemented, together with a deep root change of value chains all over the world.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QPdsjrE1ju_DvevZTQlyG1OO8BFsK6Vj/view
CEEweb for Biodiversity taken part of the Leadership Dialogue 3: Accelerating the implementation of the environmental dimension of Sustainable Development in the context of the Decade of Action, and promoted the need of the holistic approach in agriculture, forestry, water-management, nature protection and conservation embed to economy, finance and transportation through a participatory governance.
Answering the European Commission’s call for evidence on Soil health – protecting, sustainably managing and restoring EU soils initiative (https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13350-Soil-health-protecting-sustainably-managing-and-restoring-EU-soils_en), CEEweb and 26 other European organizations stated their policy position.
The Position Paper urge the Commission to take action and accelerate the Soil Health Law finalization, which should be based on subsidiarity principle, contain the importance of soil degradation and support organic farming and natural landscapes based on agroecological transition.
Position Paper on EC platform: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13350-Soil-health-protecting-sustainably-managing-and-restoring-EU-soils/details/F2928446_en
This study provides a Hungarian case study on multi-criteria evaluatoin of inovative sectoral policy and market oriented actions, concluding a set of reccommendations by the UNISECO project. The main aim of the study to foster soil-protective agriculture on farm level in order to enhance ecological and aconomical sustainability.
The ddocument can be reached with the following citaion: Katalin Balázs, László Podmaniczky, Alfréd Szilágyi (2020): Multi-criteria assessment and co-construction of innovative market and policy incentives: Soil conservation farming in Hungary to improve the environmental-economic sustainability at farm level. UNISECO HU case study report. WP5 T5.4
Direct link to the Hungarian paper: https://uniseco-project.eu/assets/content/case-studies/Hungary/T54-HU-report-v20201120-HU-version.pdf
Direct link to the English description of the case study: https://panda.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=0ceeba3c6005496891304d09cd7fdd18
The IPCC 6th Assessment Report focusing on the impacts of climate change, ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities from the point of vulnerabilities, capacities, limits of the natural world and human societies to adapt to climate change. It recognizes agroecology principles and practices based on them as Natured Based Solutions, also mentiones agroforestry as first of all agroecology based practice.
"Effective adaptation options, together with supportive public policies enhance food availability
and stability and reduce climate risk for food systems while increasing their sustainability. Effective options include cultivar improvements, agroforestry, community-based adaptation, farm and landscape diversification, and urban agriculture. Institutional feasibility, adaptation limits of crops and cost effectiveness also influence the effectiveness of the adaptation options. Agroecological principles and practices, ecosystem-based management in fisheries and aquaculture, and other approaches that work with natural processes support food security, nutrition, health and well-being, livelihoods and biodiversity, sustainability and ecosystem services. These services include pest control, pollination, buffering of temperature extremes, and carbon sequestration and storage. Trade-offs and barriers associated with such approaches include costs of establishment, access to inputs and viable markets, new knowledge and management and their potential effectiveness varies by socio-economic context, ecosystem zone, species combinations and institutional support. Integrated, multi-sectoral solutions that address social inequities and differentiate responses based on climate risk and local situation will enhance food security and nutrition. Adaptation strategies which reduce food loss and waste or support balanced diets33 (as described in the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land) contribute to nutrition, health, biodiversity and other environmental benefits."
The plaform provides the full report, a policy maker report and a technical report on details:
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/
A might be interesting side topic for Agromix target groups, how to deal with natural and close to natural forests' management in climate change crisis to ensure the ecological value of them.
As the initiative is located in the Alps and Carpathians always include a multi-level use approach of forest assets and an active management scheme, which might getting closer to ecosystem services management. This kind of management scheme - in many nomenclature - means a mixed farming system from a forest-oriented aspects, instead of agriculture oriented meaning.
The Alpine Convention (https://www.alpconv.org/en/) in cooperation with the Carpathian Convention (http://www.carpathianconvention.org/) organized a Forum to provide platform to the discussion on:
- Identification of a series of indicators relevant to mountain biodiversity, complementing and updating the indicators of the “Ecological Network” platform. The ABB has already identified 25 indicators, which are not specific for mountain biodiversity, but could be utilized in combination with the available information and studies on the atypical habitats (Carta degli Habitat1).
- To develop a project combining the available cartographic data and the set of indicators identified
- To assess the impact of climate change on mountain biodiversity
- To organise actions at several institutional levels to urge the importance of a specificity of mountain biodiversity both at international, regional and national strategies.
From forest biodiversity the most important outcomes of the event:
Conclusions of the Forum:
- Natural disturbance regimes will continue to shift with climate change in both the Alps and the
Carpathians. Altered disturbance vulnerabilities, for instance to wind and insects, derive also
from the legacy of historic forest management. This history has simplified species composition,
stand structural conditions, and patch mosaics at landscape scales. Addressing climate and
disturbance vulnerabilities require adaptative responses, such as diversification of landscape
composition and management for plant species with future adapted traits. This is needed both
to conserve forest-dwelling biodiversity and to sustain critical ecosystem services.
- Adaptation to climate change will require a portfolio of forest management strategies, producing trade-offs between the types of habitats favoured (e.g. early vs. late seral) and the mix of ecosystem service co-benefits (e.g. carbon storage, flood control, woods products, etc.). How to best optimize beta diversity in habitats, while also considering ecosystem services, is thus a central challenge for adaptive forest management in the face of climate change.
Recommendations based on the Forum:
- Promote adaptative forest management practices that account for altered natural disturbance regimes, for example by diversifying forest structure and composition at landscape scales.
- Consider forest management practices that increase resilience to climate change, such as management for systems with high functional trait diversity and expanded representation of geophysical diversity within protected areas systems.
The European Habitats Forum (EHF), an assembly of leading European nature conservation organisations of which CEEweb is a member, held its latest internal and external meetings between 22 and 24 November. Both internally and with high-level representatives of DG Environment of the European Commission, the participating experts discussed issues related to the new governance framework of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, the new EU Nature Restoration Law, as well as agreed on the EHF priorities for the coming year.
The Commission is in discussion with Member States to create a new governance for the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, contemplating a new structure and tools to track and review progress. In 2023, there will be a review of the effectiveness of its governance and, if the progress on the EU Biodiversity Strategy is insufficient, it can be turned from voluntary into legally binding. The new coordination structure includes a bigger role for the EU Nature Directors Meeting (NDM), the new EU Biodiversity Platform —which replaces the Co-ordination Group for Biodiversity and Nature (CGBN)— and a range of thematic sub-groups.
Regarding the new EU Nature Restoration Law, both the EHF members and the Commission’s representatives agreed that if done correctly it can help put biodiversity on the path to recovery. Although many details of this new law are still unknown to the public, based on the Commission’s proposed version, NGOs emphasised the importance of the prominent level of ambition and true additionality in targets and results, as well as the presence and enforcement of legally binding targets for Member States.
As for the priorities of the EHF for 2022, participating experts agreed, among others, to support the pledge and review process of EU Member States for the designation of protected areas (both under general protection and strict protection), continue to act for pollinator conservation in line with the Pollinator Initiative, and keep advocating for a strong Nature Restoration Law.
The new EU Soil Strategy, presented by the Commission, is an important deliverable of both the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. The Strategy sets a framework with concrete measures for the protection, restoration and sustainable use of soils and proposes a set of voluntary and legally binding measures. This strategy aims to increase the soil carbon in agricultural land, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, and ensure that by 2050 all soil ecosystems are in a healthy condition. In order to ensure the required legal protection to European soils, the Strategy calls for a new Soil Health Law by 2023 —that will follow an impact assessment and broad consultation with stakeholders.
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/publications/eu-soil-strategy-2030_en
