Farmers in the Rhone Biosphere Reserve (BR) in Germany receive payments between 150-200Euro/ha/year for conserving land grazed by sheep and cattle and thereby achieve environmental and nature conservation objectives.
Farmers converting to organic production get additional payments of about 250 Euros/ha/year for a transitional period. Farmers in hill and mountain areas can receive support via ‘ Less Favoured Area’ payments under the EU RDR.
Key success factors are :
- a long term commitment by government
- continuity of the governance structures
- Institutional coordination between Bundeslander (federal states) as the Rhone BR spans several administrative boundaries
- successful combination of top down (institutional) and bottom-up (participation) approaches;
- a strong BR identity
This is a good example of co-investment.
