Extensive Grazing and Requirements for the new Agricultural Policy - Promotion of biological diversity, climate protection, water balance and landscape aestheticsThe near-natural pasturing of our cultural landscape stands for a modern, multi-functional agriculture. Many farms with grazing animals have an important share in effectively implementing the European challenges to protect biological diversity, climate and water. The subsequent paper - supported by numerous associations - makes proposals for a better establishment of extensive grazing in the funding guidelines of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU after 2013. Existing instruments are to be advanced in the following areas:On extensively grazed grasslands it should in future be possible to generally activate payment claims of the 1(st) column, and to combine them with aid programmes of the 2(nd) column. In order to reduce the risks of reclaims for the applicants the sites are to be identified by a specific code with an "integrated administration and control system", and the implementation of the measures is to be controlled according to nature conservation criteria.In the context of the 2(nd) column the study recommends the expansion of agri-environmental measures - including better co-financing by the EU, additional incentives and contract periods of up to 20 years.Additionally landscape management programmes have to be established on the basis of the Regulation of the EAFRD (Art. 57) - including invested-related measures which are not covered by agri-environmental schemes.The comprehensive counselling of the farms aims to promote a better integration of extensive grazing, ensuring the optimal combination of measures of the 1st and 2nd column.The study recommends the following measures which are particularly eligible: (a) extensive all-year continuous grazing with cattle and horses, (b) conversion of arable fields into extensively grazed grasslands in flood areas and on fen soils, and (c) biotope management with sheep and goats.
