ae programme for serbia

8/4/2019 Ae Programme for Serbia

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Developing a national

agri-environment

P r o g r a m m e f o r S e r b i a


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Tamsin Cooper, Tomasz Pezold (eds.),

Clunie Keenleyside, Suzana orevi-Miloevi,

Kaley Hart, Sergej Ivanov,

Mark Redman, Dragana Vidojevi

Developing a national

agri-environmentP r o g r a m m e f o r S e r b i a


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The designation o geographical entities in this book, and the presentation o the material, do not imply the expression o any opinionwhatsoever on the part o IUCN, Avalon, IEEP or Natura Balkanika concerning the legal status o any country, territory, or area, or o itsauthorities, or concerning the delimitation o its rontiers or boundaries.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reect those o IUCN, Avalon, IEEP and Natura Balkanika.

This publication has been made possible in part by unding rom the Ministry o Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Netherlands.

Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Belgrade, Serbia in collaboration withAvalon, IEEP and Natura Balkanika

Copyright: 2010 International Union or Conservation o Nature and Natural Resources

Reproduction o this publication or educational or other non-commercialpurposes is authorized without prior written permission rom the copyrightholder provided the source is ully acknowledged.

Reproduction o this publication or resale or other commercial purposes isprohibited without prior written permission o the copyright holder.

Citation: Cooper, T., Pezold, T. (eds.), Keenleyside, C., orevi-Miloevi, S., Hart, K.,

Ivanov, S., Redman, M., Vidojevi, D. (2010). Developing a National Agri-Environment Programme or Serbia. Gland, Switzerland and Belgrade, Serbia:IUCN Programme Oce or South-Eastern Europe. 88pp

Collaborators: Milan Ivankovi (Stara Planina pilot study consultations), Sran eremei(Deliblato Sands pilot study), Vinja Mileusni (Deliblato Sands pilot study),Nikola Stojni (Deliblato Sands pilot study), Goran Sekuli (scientic advice),Zora Stevanovi Daji (map), Svetlana Ai (map), Mileta Bojovi (map), LindaZanella (English prooreading), Gordana Kubura (Serbian prooreading),Suzanna ivkovi (Serbian translations), Boris Erg (Serbian prooreading),Aleksandra Nei (Serbian prooreading), Jelena Stjelja (Serbianprooreading).

Photos: Dragan Bosni, Suzana orevi-Miloevi, Boris Erg, Sergej Ivanov, Tomasz Pezold

ISBN: 978-2-8317-1325-0

Cover design and layout by: Imre Sebestyn, jr. / UNITgraphics.com

Cover photo: Boris Erg

Produced by: IUCN Programme Oce or South-Eastern Europe in collaboration withAvalon, IEEP and Natura Balkanika

Printed by: Stojkov, Novi Sad

Available rom: IUCN Programme Oce or South-Eastern EuropeDr Ivana Ribara 9111070 Belgrade, [email protected]

Tel +381 11 2272 411Fax +381 11 2272 531www.iucn.org/publications


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abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................................................. 6

ForeworD ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 7

project partners................................................................................................................................................................... 9

chapter 1:........................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Introduction

chapter 2: ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Agriculture and the Environment in Serbia

chapter 3:........................................................................................................................................................................................

23High Nature Value Farming in Europe

chapter 4: ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 31

High Nature Value Farming Systems in Serbia

chapter 5: ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 51

agri-environment policy Making in the EU

chapter 6: ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 61

Developing an Agri-environment Programme for Serbia

chapter 7: ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 75

Implementation of agri-environment payment schemes

chapter 8: ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 85

Social and Economic Importance of HNV Farming Systems

reFerences ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 88

Contents

Contents


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Abbreviations

Abbreviations

AE Agri-environmentBBI Matra International Policy Programme

Biodiversity o the Dutch Ministry oAgriculture, Nature and Food Quality

CBD Convention on Biological DiversityCAP Common Agricultural PolicyCEE Central and Eastern Europe

CMEF Common Monitoring and EvaluationFramework

CORINE Coordination o Inormation on theEnvironment

DREPR Danube River Enterprise PollutionReduction Project

EAFRD European Fund or Agriculture and RuralDevelopment

EEA European Environment AgencyEEC European Economic Community,

renamed the European Community (EC)in 1993

EC European CommissionEC European CommunityEU European UnionFAO Food and Agriculture Organization o

the United NationsHNV High Nature ValueHNVF High Nature Value FarmlandIEEP Institute or European Environmental

PolicyIBA Important Bird Areas

IPGRI International Plant Genetic ResourcesInstitute

IPA Important Plant AreasIPA Instrument or Pre-Accession AssistanceIPARD Instrument or Pre-Accession Assistance

or Rural DevelopmentIUCN International Union or Conservation

o NatureK PotassiumLFA Less Favoured AreasLU Livestock UnitMAFWM Ministry o Agriculture, Forestry and

Water ManagementN NitrogenNAEP National Agri-environment ProgrammeNGO Non-Governmental OrganizationNMP Nutrient Management PlanNRDP National Rural Development PlanOF Organic Farming (Scheme)P PhosphorusPA Protected AreaPBA Prime Buttery AreasSEPA Serbian Environmental

Protection AgencySNR Special Nature ReserveSTAR Serbian Transitional Agriculture ReormSW Soil and Water Protection (Scheme)TB Traditional Breeds (Scheme)UAA Utilized Agricultural Area

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Foreword

Foreword

Serbias nature is characterized by high oristic and aunaldiversity that represents a signicant share o the wealthand diversity o Europes natural heritage. The conservationo preserved natural areas, the presence o many dierentspecies o ora and auna and the diversity o ecosystemsmake Serbia one o the centres o biodiversity on theBalkan Peninsula, and also at the European scale, whilealso laying out the important tasks in order to secure theirunctioning and protection.

The 461 protected natural areas in the country aresignicant or the protection o biodiversity. The survival omany species in these valuable ecosystems is oten directly

dependent on the state o the land and its uses. In thecorrelation between man and wildlie, protecting naturalresources, ensuring the sustainable use o agriculturalland, and implementing other active protection measuresserve to support the development o local communities,while also ensuring nature conservation.

In recognizing the importance o establishing a programme

o agri-environmental measures in Serbia, especially romthe perspective o conserving biodiversity, the Institute

or Nature Conservation o Serbia became involved inthe implementation o the project Support or Agri-

environment Policies and Programming in Serbia. Itcontributed by providing important data on Serbias

biodiversity and protected natural resources and on thecountrys 61 Important Plant Areas (IPA), 42 Important Bird

Areas (IBA) and 40 Prime Buttery Areas (PBA).

Agricultural practices recognized as High Nature ValueFarming (HNVF) represent a manner o managing and usingthe land which also provides added value to biodiversity

protection, including the development o local communities.

The Institutes involvement in this project ollows its long-term activities and its contribution in preparing or theapplication o European nature conservation standardsin Serbia. The protected natural areas Deliblato Sandsand Mt. Stara Planina were selected as pilot areas orthe project, as they represent typical protected naturalresources with high levels o biological diversity. Theyare, at the same time, a good example or conrmingthat the aims and priorities o High Nature Value Farmingare compliant with the protection measures or areas oprotected nature value.

This project and similar projects are especially important

as they represent a step orward in conrming thenecessary legal regulations and agri-environmentalprogrammes at the national level, and thereorerepresent a sound basis or achieving social developmentobjectives that are complementary to nature protectionobjectives. The importance o this project will be clearlyrecognized in the near uture, and the commitment o allproject participants has contributed to a clear denitiono the objectives and uture measures necessary or theconservation o biological diversity and the applicationo good agricultural practices.

The conservation o biodiversity and ensuring sustainabledevelopment, through the support to traditional armingmethods and the development o agritourism, could alsoacilitate in decreasing or stopping the emigration o therural population.

Nenad Stavretovi

Director,

Institute or Nature Conservation o Serbia


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Project PartnersAvalon

Avalon is a not-or-prot organisation based in theNetherlands. It was established in 1991 to stimulatethe development o sustainable rural development inCentral and Eastern Europe (CEE). During its early years,Avalon ocused specically upon introducing the concepto organic arming. From 1996, it began to diversiy itsactivities and rom 19972001, a consortium led by Avalon(together with several CEE and EU-partners) implementeda programme o projects unded by the Dutch government,entitled Agri-Environmental Programmes in Central andEastern Europe. These projects were undertaken in the ten

CEE Accession Countries preparing to join the EuropeanUnion in response to the urgent need at that time tointroduce, promote and develop the concept o agri-environment payments. The projects made a signicantcontribution to introducing the principles and practiceo agri-environment policy-making in the CEE region andlet a clear legacy, including a number o active nationalAgri-environment Working Groups. These working groupscontinued to elaborate pilot agri-environment projects orpre-accession unding and ull national agri-environmentprogrammes or EU co-nancing ater accession. Thisapproach was urther successully replicated in Croatiaduring 20022004 and in Turkey in 20062008.

IUCN

IUCN, International Union or Conservation o Nature,helps the world nd pragmatic solutions to our mostpressing environment and development challenges.IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy,human livelihoods and greening the world economy by

supporting scientic research, managing eld projects allover the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UNand companies together to develop policy, laws and bestpractice.IUCN is the worlds oldest and largest global environmentalorganization, with more than 1,000 government and NGOmembers and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some160 countries. IUCNs work is supported by over 1,000 stain 60 oces and hundreds o partners in public, NGO andprivate sectors around the world.

IEEP

The Institute or European Environmental Policy (IEEP)is an independent policy studies institute establishedin 1982 with particular expertise in agriculture, theenvironment and rural development policy in EU MemberStates and Accession Countries. In addition to workingregularly or the European Commission, the EuropeanParliament and the European Environment Agency,IEEP undertakes studies or a wide range o nationaland international organisations. IEEP has over 20 yearsexperience in studying the environmental aspects o EUagricultural policy and rst developed the concept o

High Nature Value (HNV) arming systems in the early1990s in conjunction with the Dutch government. IEEPsta members ollow environmental policy developmentsclosely and stay in regular touch with relevant ocials inthe European Commission and national governments.

Natura Balkanika

The Natura Balkanika Nature Society is a regional NGOounded in 2000 to support the revival, protection and

promotion o the natural and cultural values o the StaraPlanina Mountains and Gornje Ponishavlje region in south-

east Serbia. Its activities are primarily directed towardsthe promotion o environmentally-riendly agricultural

practices, the conservation o domestic animal geneticresources, natural biodiversity and local cultural heritage,

and providing support or participatory approaches andbottom-up initiatives as the basis or the regions sustainable

rural development.

Natura Balkanika has acquired a high level o knowledge and

experience in the eld o rural development and cooperateswith a large network o agricultural, environmental and social

experts and partner organisations at the local and nationallevels to implement activities including development-

orientated action, research, education and training, andcooperation in various national and international projects.


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chapter 1:Introduction


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Introduction

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1.1 The Project

Agri-environment support payments are an obligatorymeasure or all EU Member States to implement underPillar II o the Common Agricultural Policy (European Fundor Agriculture and Rural Development). They are intendedto encourage armers to adopt more environmentally-riendly and sustainable arming practices, including theconservation o biodiversity, landscapes and other naturalresources.

Agri-environment payments are commonly administeredwithin the ramework o a National Agri-EnvironmentProgramme (NAEP), which has a clearly dened andlogical hierarchy o objectives pursued through theimplementation o specic sub-measures organized and

promoted to armers as national, regional or local schemes.

The Republic o Serbia has not yet adopted a NAEP. However,some agri-environment measures were implementedunder the Rural Development Grant Scheme o the Ministryo Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management (MAFWM)during 20052007, while others were included in therecently drated National Rural Development Plan (NRDP)or 20102013.

The main goal o this project was to assist Serbia inthe process o preparing or candidature and utureaccession to the EU by supporting the development othe capacity and organizational structures necessaryor agri-environment policy-making and programming.An important priority or the project was to supportpolicy makers and key stakeholders on the developmento proposals or a NAEP, with a particular emphasis onbiodiversity conservation.

The specic objectives o the project were to:

1. introduce the concept o high nature value (HNV)

arming to governmental organizations and NGOs inSerbia;

2. introduce the concept o AE support payments to thesame organizations;

3. support the development o two pilot agri-environment schemes in contrasting protected areaswhere the continuation o traditional agriculturalpractices is important or the conservation obiodiversity associated with HNV arming systems;

4. apply the results and lessons learnt rom this processto the development o proposals or a NAEP;

5. establish a range o tools to support the necessary

capacity and organizational structures or agri-environment policy-making and programming in theuture, including a typology o HNV arming systems,a drat map o the distribution o HNV armland inSerbia and various technical documents in the Serbianlanguage;

6. widely disseminate and promote the project resultsto relevant governmental and non-governmentalorganizations to build a body o inormed opinionon agri-environment issues amongst policy anddecision-makers, together with key stakeholders inSerbia.

This project ollows a suite o similar projects undertakenby several o the project partners in other EU pre-accessioncountries o Central and Eastern Europe1 between 1997 and

2006, and in Turkey in 20062008. Although these previousexperiences have been drawn upon extensively, this projecthas been developed specically or Serbia, in accordancewith the stated interests and needs o the Ministry oAgriculture, Forestry and Water Management (MAFWM) othe Republic o Serbia.

The project was jointly implemented by Avalon, IUCN,IEEP and Natura Balkanika, in close co-operation with theMinistry o Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management andwith the valuable contribution o Serbian EnvironmentalProtection Agency (SEPA), Institute or Nature Conservationo Serbia and the Green Network o Vojvodina.

1.2 About This Handbook

This Handbook presents many o the key outputs,recommendations and accumulated expertise romthe project Support or Agri-environment Policies andProgramming in Serbia that was undertaken between2008 and 2010 by the project partners, with the nancialsupport o the Dutch Ministry o Agriculture, Nature andFood Quality through its BBI Matra Programme.

It is produced in both Serbian and English and is intendedto serve as a reerence document to support the utureprogramming o agri-environment measures in Serbia.Special attention is given to introducing the concept ohigh nature value (HNV) arming and the biodiversitybenets associated with using agri-environment and otherrural development measures to maintain low intensityarming systems typically ound in Serbia.

The Handbook is intended to serve practitioners in

the agriculture sector, policy and decision makers,

1. Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.


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ocials in the Ministries responsible or agricultureand environment, regional government agenciesand services, and nongovernmental and scienticorganizations addressing these issues at the interace oagriculture and the environment.

The publication is the rst attempt to systematicallyintroduce the concepts o HNV arming and agri-environment policies and payments to a Serbian audience.The report begins, in Chapter 2, with an introduction tothe main changes in Serbian agriculture over the past halcentury and the resulting environmental impacts. Chapters3 and 5 cover the principles o the HNV Farming and agri-environment concepts, their development over the time,and the lessons to be learnt rom EU Member States withregard to their application and implementation.

The project develops a typology o HNV arming systemsin Serbia, with an indicative map o their distribution. Thetypology and map are ound in Chapter 4.

In order to make this eort as useul as possible or thetarget recipients, Chapter 6 presents proposals or agri-environment policies and measures or Serbia, with aparticular ocus on those targeted at supporting low-intensity arming systems that help to maintain high levelso biodiversity. Chapter 7 discusses the implementationo agri-environment schemes, including the necessaryinstitutional arrangements and administrative structures.The nal chapter identies the social, economic andenvironmental benets that arise rom implementing agri-environment measures to support HNV arming systemsin Serbia.


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chapter 2:Agriculture and the

Environment in Serbia


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The Republic o Serbia, which covers 88,361 km2, is locatedin the south-eastern part o Europe, at the heart o theBalkan Peninsula. Serbia is landlocked, and is traversedby the Danube River valley which dominates the northo the country and provides shipping access to inlandEurope and the Black Sea. Its watershed, including theMorava River tributary, covers most o Serbias southernmountainous regions. Serbia has diverse terrain, rangingrom the rich, ertile plains in the northern Vojvodinaregion, to the limestone ranges and basins in the east.

The country can be divided into three broad zones onthe basis o geography and climate, land quality, armingsystems, socio-economic development, and political andadministrative boundaries. These include the regionso Vojvodina, Central Serbia and Southern Serbia. The

Southern Serbian zone is the largest, covering 44% othe total land area. It is also the poorest, least developedregion and includes the majority o Serbias mountains. Othe total area o Southern Serbia, 37% is classied as orestand 55% as agricultural land.

In terms o altitude, hilly-mountains terrains (altitudesgreater than 500 metres) cover 33,992 km2, or 38.47% othe Serbian territory; mountain terrains (exceeding 1,000m) cover 9,887 km2 (11.19%); medium high mountainswith altitudes o 1,0001,500 m are spread over 9,681 km2;and the high mountains (over 1,500 m) cover just 206 km2,or 0.23% o the territory.

2.2 Basic Environmental Prole o Serbia

The Republic o Serbia has a moderate-continentalclimate with pronounced local variations. The northexperiences a continental climate, with cold winters, hot,humid summers and a uniorm pattern o rainall. Thesouth has an Adriatic climate, with hot, dry summers andautumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowallinland. For areas up to 300 m in altitude, average annual

air temperatures were 10.9C or the period 19611990;around 10.0C or areas with altitudes between 300 to 500m; and around 6.0C at altitudes over 1,000 m.On average, annual precipitation rates increase withaltitude. In lower regions, annual precipitation ranges rom540 to 820 mm; rom 700 to 1000 mm in areas over 1,000m; and some mountain summits in south-western Serbiahave rates o precipitation o up to 1,500 mm. The majorityo Serbia experiences a continental precipitation regime,with the exception o the south-western regions, wherethe highest rates o rainall occur in autumn. On average,

June is the rainiest month and February and October

have the lowest precipitation rates. Snow cover is romNovember to March with most snow alling in January.

Figure 2. Average water balance or the territory o the Republic o Serbia

Water Resources

Water rom Serbias rivers ows towards the Black Sea,Adriatic Sea and the Aegean Sea. The Black Sea Basin is thelargest, containing around 176 billion o m3/year o wateror 93% o the total. Around 2 billion m3 o water dischargesinto the Adriatic Sea, and around 0.5 billion m3 into theAegean Sea. The total inow o water is approximately162.5 billion m3/year, and the total outow is around 178.5billion m3 /year o water.

In 2008, a total o 4 billion m3 o water was abstracted orhousehold use, industry and crats, agriculture, energy

sector and to supply other commercial users.

Soil

The soils o Serbia are extremely heterogeneous as a resulto a varied geological base, climate, vegetation and paedo-auna. They are divided into eight ertility classes, reectingthe relative suitability or agricultural production, withclasses IIV representing higher quality soils. It is estimatedthat about 45% o total territory belongs to the soil classesIVVIII which are not suitable or tillage and protable cropproduction. Instead, this land is used or semi-subsistence

vegetable or ruit production or as meadows.


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1. Karst (rocky soil) with spots o terra rossa, brown soiland lithosol

2. Lithosols and eutric cambisol3. Lithosols on acid rocks and rankers4. Regosols, rendzinas and eutric cambisols5. Arenosols and Eutric cambisol on sand6. Lime dolomite black soils, lithosols and rendzinas

7. Lime dolomite black soils, cambisols and terra rossa8. Rendzinas and regosols9. Rankers and distric cambisols10. Chernozem on loess11. Chernozem and chernozem-semigley soil12.Smonitzas13. Eutric cambisol14. District cambisols, luvisols and calcocambisols15. Cambisols, luvisols and calcomelanosols16. Terra rossa (ilimerised) and calcocambisols17. Luvisols and eutric cambisols18. Luvisols19. Pseudogley soils and rendzinas20. Acric soil and cambisols on limestone21. Fluvisols and eugleys

22. Pseudogleys23. Pseudogleys and ilimerised pseudogley soils24. Chernozem-semigley soil25. Humogleys26. Gley and semigley soils27. Eugleys28. Histosols29. Halomorphic soils

Erosion is one o the major causes o soil degradation,aecting up to 80% o agricultural soils in Serbia. Whilewater erosion is predominant in the central regions andthe hilly and mountainous regions, wind erosion is theprimary cause o soil degradation in Vojvodina, aecting85% o agricultural soils with an annual loss o over 0.9tonnes o material per hectare.

Figure 3 shows the soil map o Serbia (1:2,000,000), basedon the classication o soils o Yugoslavia (kori et al., 1985).

Biodiversity and protected natural resources

The diverse landscape, climate and hydrography have

resulted in great ecosystem diversity. Five o the twelveglobal and six European biomes are represented in the

Republic o Serbia. With an estimated 3,662 taxa, (39% oEuropes entire ora), Serbia has one o the highest levels

o oristic diversity in Europe. Faunal diversity is also highlyrepresented: 67% o mammal species, 74% o ornithoauna,

51% o ichthyoauna and 40% o the herpetoaunareported in Europe are present in Serbia. It also represents a

signicant centre o ora endemic to the Balkan Peninsula.

2.3 Basic Agricultural Prole o Serbia

Agricultural land occupies some 65% o the total area oSerbia, equivalent to approximately 5.7 million1 hectares.O this, arable land totals 3.3 million hectares (65% o

agricultural land), orchards cover an area o 2.4 millionhectares (5% o agricultural land), vegetable productioncovers 295,000 hectares and vineyards 70,000 hectares(1% o agricultural land). Permanent grasslands cover 1.4million hectares, equivalent to 28% o agricultural land.

Three main arming regions can be identied. These include:

1. mixed crop-arming/livestock-raising region, whichincludes lowlands and at areas in river valleys;2. mixed livestock-raising/ruit-growing/wine-growingregion, extending over rolling and hilly land with varying

climates and soils; and

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

National park Nature park

Protected area Nature reserve

Cultural-historical monument Nature monument

ha

Figure 4. Cumulative coverage o protected areas in Serbia

Figure 3. Soil map o Serbia (1:2,000,000)


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3. livestock-raising in mountain areas dominated by semi-natural grasslands, meadows in orest zones and highaltitude pastures.

Not all o the agricultural land area is utilized. Results roma survey conducted in 20072 indicate that arm holdingsin Serbias mountainous regions do not use a quarter toa third o their land due to poor soil quality, high waterlevels and inaccessibility by road.

Agricultural Land Use

Crop production is growing considerably. Cerealsdominate crop production, accounting or 45% oarable land, or 60% o the total cultivable land. The mostimportant cereals are wheat and maize, whereas only 10%o the area under cereals is used or the production o rye,

barley and oats.

Fruit and vegetables occupy about 12% o the totalagricultural land area and are predominantly cultivated onprivate holdings in central Serbia on small, amily ownedarms. Serbia has ideal climatic conditions or growingmany varieties o ruit, rendering it well suited or theproduction o organic ruit.

Livestock production in Serbia is dominated by privately

owned arms, operating at the small and medium scale.The number o arm animals in Serbia decreased ater

World War II, and this trend has accelerated since the early1990s. According to ocial statistics (2009), there were

approximately 1,002,000 cattle, 3,631,000 swine, 1,504,000sheep, 143,000 goats, 14,000 horses and 22,821,000

poultry in the territory o Serbia and the VojvodinaProvince. At present, more than 99% o Serbian livestock

are allochthonous (exotic) breeds and crossbreeds, withautochthonous breeds representing a tiny proportion o the

total. The production o meat and meat products is a vitalcomponent o Serbian agriculture. There are an estimated

143,000 arms with 456,000 dairy cattle producing 1.6

million tonnes o milk per year in Serbia. Most o this isproduced in the lowland areas, with only a small proportionin the highland areas o southern and south-western Serbia.

Farm Structures

Privately owned arms in Serbia are, on average, muchsmaller than those in many other European countries.According to the 2002 Census, there are about 778,900agricultural households in Serbia, owning approximately80% o the total agricultural land area, with an averageholding size o 2.5 hectares o arable land and 3.6 hectares

o agricultural land. Over 75% o private arms have less

than ve hectares and ewer than 5% have more than 10hectares. Typically, the holding is divided into an averageo our plots per arm.

Owing to their small size, most o these arms produceor their own household consumption and sell only asmall proportion o their output. They are classiedas non-commercial agricultural households or privatesubsistence arms.

Within the private arming sector, it is possible to identiyan emerging group o more commercial arms, privatecommercial arms which produce primarily or the market.O this latter category, two urther groups o producersmay be identied: those who own larger estates and areprimarily oriented to arming and those with just a ew

hectares dedicated to the production o high quality ruitand vegetables.

Agricultural Productivity

Both in terms o land and labour, agricultural productivityis below the EU average. One reason or this is the lowlevel o capital (machinery, modern equipment, andinrastructure). Across most o Serbias agriculture sector,the level o mechanisation is low, thereby representingone o the main structural barriers to productivity gains.The situation is most critical in small rural households.

The agriculture sector is supported by a state undedextension service, which is primarily delivered through 34sub-contracted agricultural stations.

Employment and Trade

In Serbia, agriculture continues to employ a signicantshare o the total labour orce. Employment in the primarysector accounts or 22% o total employment and 10% ototal employment in the ood processing industry3.

Compared to other sectors o the Serbian economy, the

agro-ood sector plays a very prominent role in overalltrade, accounting or some 20% o total exports. Serbiasmain export commodities are cereals (maize, wheat), rawand processed ruit (rozen raspberries, prunes), renedsugar and some livestock and meat products.

2.4 Main Changes in Serbian Agriculture since the

1950s

Agriculture has always been the most important sectorin the Serbian economy, especially in rural areas. Small-

scale private arming dominated Serbia prior to World

1 Serbia has 5, 109,177 hectares o agricultural land, excluding data or Kosovo and Metohia territory under UN Resolution 1244.2 Natalija Bogdanov ( 2007): Need Assessment o small rural households in Serbia, UNDP, Belgrade.


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War II though signicant changes occurred in rural areasater 1945. Part o the agricultural land was nationalizedand consolidated to create the new state and collective/cooperative arm structures. These arms were encouragedto expand, intensiy and specialize their productionactivities. Consequently all available land was brought intoproduction, elds were made larger, inputs o ertilizersand pesticides were greatly increased and huge animalbreeding complexes were constructed. At the same time,many traditional arming systems were destroyed as landwas abandoned due to a government policy to promoteindustrialization and an exodus rom rural areas. Stronglydiscouraged rom holding on to privately-owned arms,armers and the wider rural population were persuaded toleave their holdings to work in industrial centres.

Subsequently, the state-owned sector has altered mucho the traditional arming structure imposing at rst aCommunist model o co-operatives and later one olarge, state-owned industrialized arms. This processserved to transorm peasants into industrial workers. Acentralized market oered ew opportunities or small,private armers to survive and many mountain regionsbecame increasingly abandoned. Some armers wereable to continue arming and gradually to improve andmodernize agricultural production, especially in the 1970sand early 1980s, when government unds became moreaccessible to armers.

The structure o Serbias agriculture sector was transormedagain in the 1990s and early 2000 with the privatizationo state owned arms. Ater privatization, several keyinvestors appeared as the new owners o huge agriculturalplots, especially in the Vojvodina Province.

2.5 Impact o Serbian Agriculture on the EnvironmentAgricultures impact on the environment has been bothpositive and negative, with extensive arming practices

shaping valued cultural landscapes, and supportingimpressive levels o biodiversity. On the other hand,the dual processes o agricultural intensication andabandonment have had adverse eects.

Maintenance o Biodiversity and Cultural Landscapes

From the hills and mountains o eastern, western andsouthern Serbia to the plains o northern VojvodinaProvince and central Serbia, a wealth o importanthabitats or birds and other wildliemany o which are oEuropean and global signicancehave been created and

maintained by low-intensity arming. Mountain pastures

host a great variety o plant communities. However, withthe decline in the number o grazing livestock, thesespecies-rich grasslands have been invaded by Junuiperus,Vaccinium and other competitive shrubs, with a loss obiodiversity, including the disappearance o vultures(Egyptian and Grion Vultures - Neophron percnopterusand Gyps ulvus).

The decline in biodiversity, including domestic animal andplant biodiversity, largely occurred during the Socialistperiod, when state agricultural policy avoured intensiveproduction and the use o allochthonous/exotic breedsand modern plant varieties. Locally adapted breeds werenot deemed desirable as their yields were relatively low,despite their greater resistance to diseases and betteradaptation to local climatic and physical conditions.

For example, a Federal Act o the Former Yugoslavia inthe early 1950s prohibited goat breeding, and served toundermine the long-standing work on the selection andbreeding o the Balkan goat. Local Zackel sheep breeds/strains aced a similar ate as they underwent Statedirected and obligatory crossbreeding with merino sheepbreeds. Other highly valued landscapes have been lost,including terraced vineyards (in Negotinska Krajina, Vrac,Fruka Gora and others), and the orchards o umadija.

Fertilizer Use

Fertilizer use has noticeably declined on many armsduring the past 15 years, to approximately one-third othe 1985 levels, due to the economic crisis that hit Serbiaand Montenegro. Approximately 1.45 million tonnes oertilizer were used per year in the period rom 19821987. During 19821991, this declined to approximately1.25 million tonnes per year, and ell still urther to 0.411million tonnes rom 19911998 (State o the Environment2000, National Environmental Priorities 2002). Over time,the threat posed to the environment has decreased,resulting in a signicant reduction in the eutrophicationo water bodies.

This trend may reverse as the economy recovers.According to the Report on the State o the Environment2001, which conducted its analysis in the VojvodinaProvince as the area marked by the highest pollutionpressure, 25% o analysed soils had a high phosphoruscontent and 56% o the analysed territory is in dangero urther acidication. According to the same source,analysed soils contain 5 g/kg o pesticides and theirmetabolites, or 100200 g/kg o organo-chlorideinsecticides and the same amount o triazine herbicides

(atrazine, simazine and prometrine).

3 Drat Serbian Rural Development Programme.


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Water

Currently, soil contamination and the eutrophication oshallow groundwater, watercourses and lakes in Serbiais largely a result o uncontrolled efuents rom livestockarms. Research conducted by the Standing Conerenceo Towns in Serbia (Stalna Konerencija Gradova) hasshown that polluted water supply is an issue or everythird municipality in Serbia. The main agricultural sourceso nitrate pollution in Serbia are animal manures, cropwastes and chemical ertilizers. Good environmentalmanagement on large livestock arms is extremely rareand an urgent reduction in pollution rom livestock armsis required.

Serbia is one o the largest contributors o nitrogen

(N) and phosphorus (P) pollutants to the Danube River

and its tributaries. Runo rom large pig arms is amajor contributor to the nutrient load into the Danube.Construction o proper manure storage acilities and the

purchase o manure spreading equipment are still in theirinancy, though the rst steps to improve the situation havebeen taken through the Danube River Enterprise Pollution

Reduction project (DREPR).

Slaughterhouse waste also constitutes a signicant sourceo nutrient pollution, especially in Vojvodina where there

are 240 slaughterhouses. Slaughterhouses typically collectanimal waste in storage tanks which is then taken away

by tankers or disposal into the municipal wastewatersystem or municipal landll lagoons. Improved nutrient

management through the recycling o livestock manureand rationalization o the use o mineral ertilizers has been

introduced in the most intensive agriculture areas throughthe DREPR project.

2.6 Existing Policy Responses to the Environmental

Impact o Serbian Agriculture

Although the Republic o Serbia does not yet have a national

strategy or the protection o biodiversity or specicagricultural policies to support ecosystem protection,natural habitat protection and endangered species

protection, these are in the development process. With theadoption o various international commitments and the

prospect o becoming a member o the European Union,the environment is becoming an increasingly important

issue on the political agenda.

The ollowing institutions play a crucial role in deningSerbias agri-environmental policy: Ministry o Agriculture,

Forestry and Water Management (primarily through the

Sector or Rural Development), Ministry o Environmental

and Spatial Planning (through the Environmental ProtectionDirectorate) and the Institute o Nature Conservation.

Following Serbias application to join the EU, the

Government o Serbia is working both to establish newstandards and to align existing standards with EU policies

to mitigate agricultures negative environmental impactsand to ensure the maintenance o benecial arming

activities. Several important policy documents have eitherbeen adopted or are being prepared:

1. National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan;

2. Strategy to Conserve Locally Adapted Animal Breeds;3. National Agricultural Strategy;

4. National Rural Development Programme;

5. National Agricultural Programme;6. Organic Farming Act, Livestock Act, GMO Act;7. Subordinate legislation: Decree on Less Favoured Areas,

Decree on Conservation and Sustainable Use o AnimalGenetic Resources, etc.;

8. National Programme or Environmental Protection.

The Drat National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

was prepared by the Ministry o Environment and SpatialPlanning with UNDP/GEF technical and nancial assistance.

This document is expected to emphasise the importanceo preparation and implementation o a national agri-

environmental programme.

The Strategy to Conserve Locally Adapted Animal Breedswas adopted in 2002 by the Federal Government oYugoslavia with the aim to preserve locally adaptedbreeds that are becoming extinct, or social andeconomical purposes, as well as uture scientic researchand education purposes.

The Agricultural Strategy o the Republic o Serbia wasadopted in 2005. For the rst time, this strategic document

recognizes the importance o biodiversity (includingagro-biodiversity), conservation and sustainable orestrymanagement. In this regard, one o the strategic goals set outby the Strategy is to ensure support or rural development,

protection o the environment rom the destructive inuences

o agricultural production, preparation o Serbian agriculture

or its integration to the EU In addition, the Strategystates that agriculture can protect and enhance thenatural environment, bringing enjoyment to the citizenso Serbia and the potential to develop a protable tourismindustry. Planned activities include the preparation and

adoption o a National Programme on the Conservation


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and Sustainable Use o Genetic Resources in Agriculture;alignment o the existing national database on plant andanimal genetic resources to international standards (FAOand IPGRI); support or the use o autochthonous domesticanimals and plant breeds; research on agro-biodiversityand the setting up o a national gene bank.

The Drat National Agricultural Programme was preparedby the MAFWM and identies three priority goals or the

period 20102013:

dene an environment protection policy to addressthe harmul eects o the agricultural sector;

begin preparations or the introduction o the NitratesDirective;

improve co-operation with the Ministry orEnvironmental Protection through the ormation o

long-term working groups.

The Drat Programme plans to: establish support orarm investments aimed at pollution reduction and theadoption o EU standards; support the development oorganic agriculture including the certication process andthe implementation o Good Agricultural Practices (GAP);improve the database relating to organic production;establish the legislative basis or introducing GAP anda related budget; develop GAP principles aimed at soil,water, air and animal protection; develop the guidelinesor integrated pest management; develop strategic,legislative, administrative and technical instruments orcontrolling the use o Genetically Modied Organisms(GMO) and reducing the respective risks; and adopt aNational Programme or the conservation o geneticresources and support its implementation.

The Drat National Rural Development Programme wasprepared in 2008, or the period 20082013, in advance

o Serbias accession to the European Union. Under Axis 2 Preservation o the Environment and Countryside the

ollowing measures have been included:

support or organic conversion and or ongoingmanagement;

support or the conservation o genetic resources;

preparation o the rural development support systemto assist local rural development implementation and

planning.

In 2006, a new Organic Farming Act was adopted andintroduces subsidies to support organic certication and

production methods. Organic arming is supported per capitaor head (or per beehive) o organically raised animal or hectare

o organically produced crop, ruits or vegetables, etc.

Since 2006, armers have received advice and trainingrom advisory service representatives to support theintroduction o GAP, particularly targeted at small, privatearmers and the organic sector, through rural developmentunds. During 20052006, trainers in the area o integratedruit and vegetable production were trained through anAssistance Programme unded by the Italian Government,and several small extension projects have served todisseminate knowledge on the application o bestagricultural practices in livestock arming to encourage areduction in agricultural pollution.

Serbia designated the rst Less Favoured Areas (LFA) in

2005, in marginal areas where opportunities or agricultureintensication are limited. In 2002, Government support

or agro-biodiversity conservation was introduced in the

orm o payments per head o autochthonous endangeredbreeds. Until 2008, measures existed to support theconservation o autochthonous plant varieties, but these

were stopped as a result o the nancial crisis.

The Livestock Act (Ocial Gazette, 2009) introduces

measures to support the conservation o endangeredbreeds, development o organic arming and compliance

with environmental standards in the livestock sector.The Act also allows or the establishment o a Register o

Autochthonous Breeds which was published in 2010 withthe aim o identiying priority breeds in danger o extinction.

2.7 Conclusions

Natural resources, traditional landscapes and thebiodiversity maintained by traditional agriculturalpractices are important components o Serbias nationalheritage. The mutual relationship between agriculture andenvironment has a long history in Serbia. Farmers haveplayed an invaluable role in shaping the rural landscape orcenturies. In many areas, semi-natural habitats maintainedby arming practices have become crucial substitutes

or natural habitats, though in recent decades, many othese agricultural areas have come under pressure romintensication, changes o land use and cropping patternsand the discontinuation o traditional practices. At the sametime, other areas have been aected by marginalizationand abandonment as armers have let rural areas ora lie in the city. There is an urgent need to nd the bestpossible balance between guaranteeing ood supply, thenecessity to preserve the rural environment and the needto stimulate economic growth, including the creation onew job opportunities in rural areas.


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chapter 3:High Nature Value

Farming in Europe


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High Nature Value Farming in Europe

26


The concept o High Nature Value (HNV) arming isattracting increasing interest rom agricultural policy-makers and environmentalists in Europe due to itsimportance or biodiversity conservation. The conceptis described below along with an approach to itsidentication. Chapter 4 provides inormation on thetypes o HNV arming systems in place in Serbia.

3.1 What is HNV Farming?

The concept o High Nature Value (HNV) arming hasemerged and been developed over the past 15 years inresponse to the growing recognition that certain typeso arming are extremely valuable or wildlie and ormaintaining biodiversity.

HNV arming systems were rst described by Baldock etal. (1993) as predominantly low-intensity systems whichoten involve a relatively complex interrelationshipwith the natural environment. They maintain importanthabitats both on the cultivated or grazed area (e.g., cerealssteppes and semi-natural grasslands) and in eatures suchas hedgerows, ponds and trees, which were historicallyintegrated with the arming systems The semi-naturalhabitats currently maintained by HNV arming areparticularly important or nature conservation in the ECbecause o the almost total disappearance o large scalenatural habitats.

This observation challenges the widespread understandingthat arming activities have a mainly negative impacton biodiversity and recognizes instead that many o thehabitats upon which we place high nature conservationvalue in Europe were created by armers and theirtraditional arming practices and, in order to conservethese habitats and prevent urther declines in biodiversity,it is necessary to maintain these arming systems.

In many parts o Europe, these types o arming systems

also sustain rural communities and shape rural culture andtraditions.

The HNV concept brings an alternative and complementaryapproach to conventional nature conservation. Insteado ocusing solely upon the maintenance o rare orendangered species and habitats on protected sites, itembraces the need or signicantly larger areas o land(including a high proportion o semi-natural habitats)to continue to be occupied by armers and managedaccording to traditional arming methods (Beauoy et al.,

1994).

However, whilst HNV arming is an increasingly popularand attractive concept or communicating the biodiversitybenets provided by certain types o arming, thereremain many challenges associated with ensuring theongoing existence o these arming systems. One keychallenge is the act that HNV arming systems tend tobe ound in the more marginal areas o Europe whereagricultural productivity is constrained by actors such aspoor soils, steep slopes, high altitude and low rainall. Theother key challenge these arming systems ace relates totheir economic viability. Due to the constraints on theirproductivity, their distance rom markets and the act thata signicant proportion are semi-subsistence arms, HNVarmers tend to have much lower incomes than thosearming in more ertile agricultural areas.

Those armers delivering the greatest biodiversity benetare thereore typically arming under the most dicultcircumstances (economic, social and environmental) andare subject to the greatest pressures to abandon theirtraditional way o lie. Consequently, across Europe manytraditional agricultural landscapes rich in biodiversity andculture are being lost to abandonment, intensication andchanges in land use.

3.2 Approaches to identiying High Nature Value

arming systems

Drawing on a denition developed by Andersen et al. (2003),HNV arming in Europe is dened as occurring where:

agriculture is a major (usually the dominant) land use; agriculture supports or is associated with a high

diversity o wildlie species and habitats, or thepresence o species o European conservationconcern, or both; and

the conservation o these wildlie habitats and speciesis dependent upon the continuation o specicagricultural practices.

HNV arming systems are typically characterized by acombination o:

Low intensity land usebiodiversity is usually higheron armland that is managed at a low intensity. The moreintensive use o machinery, ertilizers and pesticides and/or the presence o high densities o grazing livestockgreatly reduces the number and abundance o species oncropped and grazed land.

Presence o semi-natural vegetationthe biodiversity

value o semi-natural vegetation, such as unimproved


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grasslands used or grazing, is signicantly higher thanintensively-managed agricultural land. Furthermore, thepresence o natural and semi-natural landscape eaturessuch as mature trees, shrubs, uncultivated patches,ponds and streams, rocky outcrops, etc. greatly increasesthe number o ecological niches or wildlie to co-existalongside arming activities.

Diversity o land cover and land usebiodiversity issignicantly higher when there is a mosaic o land coverand land use, including low intensity cropland, allowland, semi-natural vegetation and numerous landscapeeatures. This creates a much wider variety o habitats andood sources or wildlie and thereore supports a muchmore complex ecology than the simplied landscapesassociated with intensive agriculture.

It is not necessary or all three characteristics to be presentwithin one arming system or it to be considered as HNV.Instead, the three characteristics can be considered tointeract as shown in Figure 3.1.

As shown in this diagram, the dominant characteristico HNV arming is low intensity land use. A signicantpresence o semi-natural vegetation is also essential.In some situations, however, this may also be ound incombination with low intensity cropland creating a mosaiclandscape with a greater diversity o land cover thansimply semi-natural vegetation. In line with this approach,three types o HNV armland are commonly identied(Andersen et al., 2003), as outlined in the table below.

The denition o three types o HNV armland is a useulaid in identiying HNV armland on the ground. The threetypes o HNV armland are not intended to be precisecategories with a sharp boundary between them. Ratherthey should be seen as a continuum, ranging rom thosewith a higher proportion o semi-natural vegetation andlower intensity use (Type 1) to more intensively managed

armland that still supports species o conservation value(Type 3) as shown in Figure 3.2 (IEEP, 2007).

HNV Farmland Type 1: High proportion o semi-

natural vegetation

The most widespread type o HNV armland consists osemi-natural vegetation grazed under low intensity by

livestock, oten with traditional local breeds. The grazedsemi-natural vegetation may be grassland, scrub orwoodland, or a combination o dierent types. Oten thesemi-natural grazing is not part o the arm holding, buthas some other orm o ownership (common land, state-owned land, etc).

HNV livestock arms will usually have more than onetype o orage land. This can range rom the least alteredsemi-natural vegetation (never cultivated, sown orertilized), through to grasslands that may be occasionally

cultivated and/or lightly ertilized, to more productive or

Figure 3.1: The three key characteristics o HNV arming

Type 1Farmland with a high proportion o semi-natural vegetation, such as species richgrassland

Type 2

Farmland with a mosaic o low intensity

agriculture and natural and structural

elements, such as eld margins,

hedgerows, stone walls, patches o

woodland or scrub, small rivers, etc.

Type 3Farmland supporting rare species or a highproportion o European or World populations

Figure 3.2: The continuum o HNV arming types 1, 2 and 3Source: Beauoy and Cooper (2008)


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improved pastures, and cereal crops or odder. Althoughmore productive, these elds are still managed at lowintensity compared to mainstream arming. They can bean important part o an HNV arming system and canalso contribute to nature value when combined with asucient area o semi-natural grazing.

Determining which pastures are semi-natural and whichare not is to some extent a value judgement. One approachis based on the presence o certain indicator species.Another approach is to decide, or example, that a pasturethat has not been resown or ertilized or 20 years canbe considered semi-natural. Occasional cultivation maybe compatible with semi-natural status. This is especiallyrelevant in Mediterranean regions, where grasslandsmay be cultivated occasionally or scrub control, without

signicantly reducing their natural value. Spontaneousvegetation in olive groves and on low-intensity allowland may also be counted in the same category i it is notaected signicantly by ertilizers or biocides.

The act that the vegetation is grazed by livestock ormown or hay is important, as this conrms that it ispart o a arming system. Semi-natural grazing land isnot necessarily always grassland. Scrub and orest arean important orage resource in some parts o the EU(especially the southern and eastern regions). However,semi-natural woodland that is not grazed should beconsidered a separate, non-arming land use. Semi-naturalvegetation that is grazed primarily by wild herbivores,such as deer, should not be considered HNV armland(Beauoy and Cooper, 2008).

HNV Farmland Type 2: Mix of Semi-Natural Vegetation

and Low Intensity Cropland

Farms and landscapes with a lower proportion o semi-natural vegetation, existing in a mosaic with arable and/orpermanent crops, can also be o high nature value. Nature

values will tend to be higher when the cropped areas areunder low intensity use, providing a mix o habitats thatare used by a range o wildlie species.

Because the proportion o land under semi-naturalvegetation is less in Type 2 HNV compared to Type 1,and the proportion o cultivated land is greater, themanagement o the cultivated land and the existenceo an ecological inrastructure o landscape eatures isespecially critical or wildlie. More intensive use o thecultivated land and the removal o eatures will lead to a

rapid decline in biodiversity values.

Peripheral unarmed semi-natural eatures, such ashedges, other eld margins and trees are oten ound onType 2 HNV armland. These provide additional habitatsand will tend to increase nature value. However, theirtotal surace area is usually small compared to the area oproductive armland. It is thereore the characteristics othe productive area that determine whether the armlandin question is HNV, i.e. the presence o unarmed eaturesalone is not sucient (Beauoy and Cooper, 2008).

HNV Farmland Type 3: Intensive Crops and Grassland

Used by Certain Rare Species

At the more intensive end o the HNV spectrum arearmland types whose characteristics o land cover andarming intensity would not necessarily suggest HNV

arming, but which nevertheless continue to supportspecies o conservation concerneither rare speciesor a high proportion o European or World populations(Beauoy and Cooper, 2008).

3.3 Why is HNV Farming a Priority or the

European Union?

The European Environment Agency has estimated thataround 30% o the EUs total agricultural area can beconsidered to be HNV, covering about 74 million hectares(Paracchini et al., 2008). As shown in Figure 3.3, however,HNV armland is not evenly distributed and much largerconcentrations are ound in southern and Eastern Europe.

Unortunately, the extent and condition o HNV armlandin Europe declined greatly during the 20th century(with serious knock-on eects or biodiversity such asarmland birds) due to the combined pressures o: i)abandonment o all arming activities; ii) intensicationand conversion o HNV grassland to arable land, andiii) loss o HNV armland through changes in land use.

Most recently, since the early 1990s, millions o hectareso armland in central and Eastern Europe have beenabandoned during the re-structuring o agricultureollowing the collapse o Communism. This abandonedarmland includes vast areas o species-rich semi-naturalgrasslands and low intensity arable land with a subsequentloss o oral diversity, eeding areas or wintering birds,breeding sites or birds o European importance andmany other important habitats (Keenleyside and Baldock,2007). Prior to this, the expansion and intensication oagriculture throughout Europe ollowing World War II

contributed to a signicant loss o biodiversity due to


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requirements. The same Regulation continued tostate that support or agri-environment measures shallpromote the conservation o high nature value armedenvironments which are under threat.

Under the current European Agricultural Fund or RuralDevelopment (EAFRD) (Council Regulation No. 1698/2005)and the accompanying Community Strategic Guidelinesor Rural Development (20072013) (Council Decision2006/144/EC), the provisions made or maintainingHNV arming are much more robust and put a numbero obligations upon EU Member States. This includesidentiying the preservation o HNV arming as a strategicpriority or Member States as ollows:

To protect and enhance the EUs natural resources

and landscapes in rural areas, the resources devoted toaxis 2 should contribute to three EU level priority areas:

biodiversity and the preservation and development o

high nature value arming and orestry systems and

traditional agricultural landscapes; water; and climate

change.(emphasis added).

This translates into an obligation upon EU MemberStates to conserve HNV armland and associated armingsystems:1. rstly, each Member State should identiy what HNV

arming means in their own national context;2. secondly, they should support HNV arming systems

and the preservation o HNV armland by includingappropriate measures in their national ruraldevelopment programmes; and

3. thirdly, they should monitor and report changes inthe total (baseline) area and quality o HNV armlandin order to assess the impact o rural developmentprogrammes and measures.

These are ambitious objectives, but with the political willto ensure that appropriate policy measures are in place

and sucient budgetary resources made available ortheir implementation, these valuable arming systems canbe maintained or uture generations.


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chapter 4:High Nature Value Farm ing

Systems in Serbia


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Livestock

systems

Low intensityorage area

Arable not

signifcant in

orage area

Semi-Intensive

Semi-

natural

meadows

mowed

or dual

purpose

based

systems

Semi-

natural

pasture

based

grazing

systems

Forests

and

wetlands

pastures

based

grazing

systems

Sown

meadows

dual-

purpose

based

systems.

Mostly

not HNV

Lo


4.1 Introduction

This chapter addresses three key questions o importance

to agri-environmental policy-making in Serbia:

Which types o arming systems in Serbia are likely to be

HNV and important or the conservation o biodiversity?

What is the approximate distribution o HNV armland in

Serbia?

What are the general characteristics o HNV arming

systems that make them so benecial or biodiversityconservation?

A range o agricultural and biodiversity experts involved in

the project set out to answer these questions in 2009 and2010. Their work aimed to:

develop a generic typology o arming systems in Serbia

and the identication o those arming systems that aremost likely to be HNV;

use selected indicators to prepare a preliminary map

showing the possible distribution o HNV armland inSerbia;

conduct two local case studies to examine several

HNV arming systems in greater detail, to identiy thearming practices that are benecial or wildlie and

biodiversity and to demonstrate the types o threatsaced by these arming systems.

Each o these three steps is described in detail in the sections

that ollow. They are broadly in line with the methodology

used or identiying HNV arming systems and armland that

has been proposed by the European Commission to assist

EU Member States in applying the HNV armland indicator

that orms part o the Common Monitoring and Evaluation

Framework or national rural development programmes in the

current EU programming period, rom 20072013 (IEEP, 2007).

4.2 Typology o HNV Farming Systems or Serbia

The rst step towards applying the HNV arming concept in

Serbia is to use the available data, inormation and expertknowledge to identiy and describe the broad types oarming systems that are likely to be benecial or wildlie.

This does not need to be an exhaustive or denitive process.

Figure 4.1 summarizes the basic typology o armingsystems in Serbia prepared or this project. The typology

was kept as simple as possible to provide an overarchingorganizing ramework or the subsequent descriptions,

characterizations and analysis. The main arming systemsidentied all into three categories: livestock production,

annual crops and permanent crops. Within each, examples

o low-intensity arming systems can be ound, which havethe potential to be High Nature Value arming systems.


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All Systems

More intensivelyanaged orage area

Intensive

Fine grained

mosaic based

mainly on

vegetables

Fine grained

mosaic based

on grains

ow

ensity

oved

own

adows

ased

tems

Irrigated

intensive

grass/legumes

mixtures and

orage crops

based systems.

Not HNV

Semi-

intensive

sown

meadows

and arable

land based

systems

Intensive

cropping

/veget.

growing

based

systems.

Not HNV

Low

intensity

dry

cropping

based

systems

Low

intensity

irregularly

irrigated

vegetable

based

systems

Intensive

orchard

vineyards

and hops

based

systems.

Not HNV

Low

intensity

mowed

or grazed

orchards

based

systems

IntensiveIntensive

nsity

Low intensityLow intensity

Semi-Intensive

Arable is

signifcant in

orage area

Annual crop

systems

Permanent crop

systems

Figure 4.1 Typology o the main arming systems in Serbia


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Ten examples o low intensity livestock systems in Serbiaare described below, many o which have the potentialto be High Nature Value arming systems. As described inChapter 3, HNV arming systems are typically characterizedby a combination o: low intensity land use; presence o semi-natural vegetation and the presence

o natural and semi-natural landscape eatures; diversity o land cover and land use.

1. Deciduous orests with high proportion o grassland cover

Low intensity agroorestry systems with semi-naturalgrasslands grazed by sheep and cattle in ooded orestson the banks o the Sava, Danube, Tisa and Tami Riversand other lowland rivers o Vojvodina.

This is one o the oldest agro-orestry systems in lowlandSerbia. Examples are ound in the lowland valleys o theSava, Danube, Tisza, Tami and Kara Rivers, and in thewatershed o the Morava River. The best example is in theZasavica Special Nature Reserve ound along the bankso the Sava River, where autochthonic breeds o cattle,pigs and donkeys have been reintroduced alongside theadoption o traditional pasturing practices.

Recent eorts have been made to revitalize traditionalsala arms through support or rural tourism and or thedevelopment and branding o local speciality products.This in turn is vital or the conservation o rare domesticanimal breeds.

2. Winter nomadic pastures on ruderal lands and stubble

These pastures are mainly located in the Srem region, inBanat and in the river valleys below high mountain rangesacross the whole o Serbia popaa practice (now anextinct practice).Transhumance grazing practices have recently disappeared

rom Vojvodina. The horizontal migration o Balkan

transhumance communities used to reect seasonal changes

in vegetation, which shaped the way o lie o livestock raisingcommunities. These practices had high cultural value and

their disappearance has not only led to a decline in landscapecharacter, but also to a loss in the genetic diversity o sheep

populations. Without grazing or mowing, most grasslands inlowland areas will vanish, as they lie in orest zones and zones

o anthropozoogenic origin.

3. Semi-natural meadows or meadows with sown mixtures

used or hay production

This arming system is responsible or creating theamiliar landscapes o the umadija Mountains in Serbia.Up until the 1960s, the meadows were under extensivemanagement. Mowing was late and the meadows werereseeded with native species. Both practices resulted inthe maintenance o a high diversity o plant and animalcommunities. From the 1960s to the 1980s, managementwas intensied. The grasslands were reseeded with simplegrass-legume mixtures and mowing was conductedearlier. As a result, species richness declined and certaingrassland nesting birds were threatened.In the last decade, the intensity o land management hasdecreased with the return o more traditional practices.The traditional mowing east o Rajac Mountain serves toreinorce local traditions, including the communal mowingo mature grasslands, as well as generating income romtourism, attracting thousands o tourists every year.

Throughout the umadija region Mt. Valjevo, Suvobor,Rajac, Rudnik the appeal or rural tourism derives romthe beautiul and diverse meadows maintained throughtraditional grassland management practices. The bestexample o the benets provided can be ound in Ljig andValjevo surroundings, supported by local NGOs Mobaand Domain and tourism boards o the municipalities ocentral Serbia.

4. Semi-intensive grazing o highland semi-natural

grasslands in orest zones and natural grasslands above the

orest zone


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Semi-intensive livestock systems are based on grazingby sheep, cattle and horses o highland semi-naturalgrasslands in orest zones and natural grasslands abovethe orest zone. They are typically ound in the morehumid zones o western Serbia.

These zones are created and maintained through low-intensity grazing by cattle and sheep, with mainlystationary summer grazing, and these pastures are otenound in the conierous orest zone, and less requently asopenings in mixed orest or at higher altitudes. This typeo management has created some o the most attractivemountainous areas o Serbia, ound in the Tara, Zlatibor,Zlatar, Golija and Sjeniko-Peterska plateaus, punctuatedwith mountain summer shelters or animals and people,called katuni. Unortunately, grazing animals are hardlyseen in this region today except or on the Sjeniko-Peterska plateau. The absence o humans and animalsin these landscapes, coupled with the arrival o invasivespecies, has led to a reduction in the economic andecological value o these grasslands.

The most attractive tourist areas in western Serbia,amous or their beauty and the quality o their dairyand meat products, depend on cattle and sheep or theirexistence. Traditional recipes have been kept, thoughit is increasingly dicult to source ood products romnative domestic species. Zlatibor cheese now comes romsuburban Valjevo, and soon the amous Sjeniko lamb

may be replaced completely by the German Virtemberglamb. South American bee dominates the national andinternational markets and the authentic smoked hamrom Zlatibor Mountain has suered a similar ate to thato the traditional village rom where it originates.

5. Extensive nomadic grazing o highland grasslands

Extensive livestock system, with sheep, goats and cattlegrazing highland grasslands in southern, southeasternand eastern Serbia.

Over 100,000 hectares o pasture are under extensive

grazing, mainly by indigenous sheep breeds, such asPramenka (Zeckel). These breeds have coarse wool, goodmilk production and excellent meat quality. Grazing istraditional and seasonal, locally reerred to as undersheep eet . These pastures are ound in the area o naturalmountain pastures above the orest zone and in openingsin conierous orests cleared by deorestation.

In the past, higher levels o grazing oten led to thedepletion o resources in some locations. Although itdecreased productivity, selective grazing had a positiveeect on the open canopy meadow, helping to maintainhigh levels o biodiversity. For example, extensive

livestock herding supports the survival o birds o preyand grassland birds. However, due to the depopulationo these areas in recent decades, these values are on theverge o disappearing.

6. Extensive grazing o closed village pastures

In an extensive livestock system, ree range pigs, sheepand poultry graze on semi-natural vegetation in managedorchards (mainly plums) and in orests patches.This arming system is practised across central Serbia. Atpresent, it is not a HNV arming system, because the rearingo ree-range pigs removes grassland cover, leading to aloss o biodiversity. However, it has the potential to beHNV with appropriate management.

Today this type o small-scale arming is being modernized,with animals increasingly reared in sheds. One o thebenets o this system is the maintenance o valuabledomestic animal genetic resources. Depending on thetype o village, this system was oten combined with anagroorestry system, where outdoor reared pigs roamedin oak woods and grazed on acorns. This system has nowbeen almost completely abandoned (still present in thePosavina region) ater acorn collection was orbidden dueto the threat o inection by trichinellosis, although some

ree range animals continue to be kept in yards.


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Developing a nationalagri-environmentP r o g r a m m e f o r S e r b i a High Nature Value Farming Systems in Serbia

The survival o this system is closely linked to the traditiono the Serbian east, during which amily guests enjoyhome-reared lamb. Due to limited grazing resources incentral Serbia, this semi-subsistence arming system islikely to survive, as long as the slaughtering o animals insitu or amily consumption remains legal.

7. Combined use mountain grasslands

This is a livestock system based on grazing by sheepand cattle in valley meadows, mid-mountain combinedpurpose meadows and highland pastures.

Sheep production across two specic zones has beenpreserved in southeastern and eastern Serbia as thesuccessor to a orm o production in which nomadic ocks

roamed rom the south to the north o the country. Itrepresents a semi-nomadic livestock system that ollowsseasonal changes in vegetation at dierent altitudes.The system is based on winter-spring grazing in thelowlands with daily spring and early summer migrationsto meadows ound in the deciduous woodland zone. OnSt. Georges day at the beginning o May, the ocks aremoved to highland pastures, above the zone o mixedwoods, where they are ree to roam during the day andkept within enced meadows overnight (trlo, bailo).

The recent abandonment o highland pastures isjeopardizing the survival o pastures in the lowlands dueto overstocking. This in turn leads to soil degradationand erosion on slopes, while the abandoned grasslandsare being invaded by juniper, blackberry and othershrubs. However, keeping this system alive could providearmers with considerable economic benets, through thedevelopment, processing and sale o valuable and highquality products, such as Pirot and Stara Planina Kakavaljhard yellow cheese.

8. Deciduous orests pruned or winter orage

This is an extensive mountain sheep system, with winterorage collected rom deciduous orests.

In certain mountain areas having limited resources or theproduction o winter eed, an ancient practice evolved andhas resulted in the creation o valued cultural landscapes.It involves the pruning o deciduous trees and thecollection o branches and leaves which were then driedand stored or animal eed. As this practice impacted thecommercial value o certain woodlands, it was orbidden

in state owned orests, although it is still carried out in the

lower Danube region and eastern Serbia. In these areas,additional economic benets could be generated throughtourism and the production o traditional handicrats,providing a rationale or maintaining the system withinsustainable limits and at a relatively small scale.

9. Marginal grazing on land with light, salted or hard soils

These are semi-intensive grazing systems with grazingby sheep, cattle and donkeys on sandy dunes, salted orhard soils with a high water table, typically ound in theBanat region.

The ormation o steppe vegetation in the DeliblatoSands has been inuenced by anthropozoogenic actors,

especially mowing and grazing, in addition to natural,

environmental orces. A signicant amount o scienticresearch has been conducted in the Deliblato Sands areaand has demonstrated that a well-balanced grazing regime,

with appropriate stocking densities, is required to maintainthis valuable environment. The return o extensive grazingby indigenous animals is the best way to preserve the areas

landscape character and heterogeneity, and to maintainbiodiversity, including species such as the Imperial Eagle,

which depends on open grassland habitats or its prey.

10. Grazing o wet leas in lowland villages

The centuries old practice o exploiting communalpastures or grazing by non-ruminants continues insome parts o Serbia today. Until the 1960s, communalpastures were used or the rearing o geese (or meat, liver,eathers). However, the grazing o communal lands by pigsand poultry, mostly duck, geese and turkeys, is currentlydeclining due to the threat o inection rom trichinellaand avian inuenza. There is little economic value in suchpractices, except perhaps or sala rural tourism, which isassociated with local events and celebrations such as the

Geese Fight in Mokrin, etc.


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1.

3.

4.

6.

5.

8.

7.

9.

2.10.

Figure 4.2. Indicative distribution o selected low intensity arming systems in Serbia


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HNV Farming System* Key characteristics

Semi-natural meadows moved

or dual purpose moving-grazing based systems

1) Land used semi-intensively. Semi-natural vegetation used or grazing livestock in spring and autumn

and late moving over summer, livestock density never exceeds 1 LU per ha, mineral nitrogen andbiocides not used, low levels o manure applied very rarely or not used at all due to lack o labour.

2) Unimproved grasslands are highly biodiverse, with an average number o plant species greater than

60 per grassland community, scrub invasion controlled by shepherds and through mowing, eld

margins preserved.

3) Land use mosaic present on a limited scale and diversity o land cover mainly derived rom various

plant communities o semi-natural grasslands resulting rom diverse soils, their depth, elevation and

geological substratum rather than management practices; arable land (mainly potato, carrots andsimilar or wheat, barley and oats) no longer present at a large scale; majority o mosaic consists o

natural vegetation orests and grasslands.

4) Traditional livestock breeds (agro-biodiversity) associated with this system are Zeckel sheep odiverse strains, such as Svrljig sheep, Pirot sheep, Krivovir golden sheep, domestic spotted cattle,

Balkan goat, mountain pony, etc.

5) Semi-subsistence armers and mid-commercial arms mostly producing milk products.

Semi-natural pastures based

grazing systems

1) Land used extensively/low intensity o production; semi-natural vegetation used or summer

grazing, livestock density never exceeds 0.1 LU per ha, mineral nitrogen and biocides not used.

2) Unimproved grasslands, highly biodiverse, average number o species less than 60 per grassland

community due to scrub invasion, which used to be traditionally controlled by shepherds through

physical eradication or burning, eld margins do not exist.

3) Land use not mosaic - diversity o land cover mainly derived rom various plant communities

associated with semi-natural grasslands resulting rom diverse soils and their depth, elevation and

geological substratum rather than rom management practices.

4) Traditional livestock breeds (agro-biodiversity) connected to this system are Shara sheep,Karakachan sheep, Bardoka sheep, Valachian sheep, Bucha cattle, domestic bufalo, Balkan donkey,

etc.

5) Semi-subsistence armers organised to manage grazing together, but very rarely or marketing

purposes, mostly using private meadows or moving and grazing and public meadows or summer

grazing; very ew large arms privatised such as the one on Vlasina with thousands o hectares opastures, meadows and arable land; medium arms contracted, e.g. to deliver milk to processors and

lambs to slaughterhouses.

Forests and wetlands pasturesbased grazing systems 1) Extensive land use/extensive production based on semi-natural vegetation or grazing livestockduring the winter season with the addition o concentrated eed while animals are housed at night

and during severe climatic conditions, livestock density varies, mainly low and immeasurable,nitrogen and biocides not used.

2) The presence o semi-natural eatures (unimproved grass and weed cover in lower orest oors,

scrub, eld margins and remains o crops not plugged ater harvest).

3) Land use mosaic consisting o wetland orests, harvested elds o various crops mainly wheat,

maize and sunower and young elds o wheat and alala stands in winter dormation or slow

development phase.

4) Traditional livestock breeds (agro-biodiversity) connected to this system are Mangalitza pig, Resavka

pig, Moravka pig, Vlaika sheep, Tzigaja sheep, Podolian cattle, etc.

5) Mid-size commercial armers mainly oriented towards direct sale o meat to processors or

middlemen, rarely processing products themselves.


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Approximate extent

o the arming system,

its distribution and

geographic location

Trends / tendencies Associated wildlie

Widespread arming

systems - ound acrossthe complete range o

Serbias mountains; inclearings in the orested

zone o mountain areas

o central Serbia, westernmountains and southern

mountains (mountains

o the Dinaric Arc such as

Zlatibor, Golija, Zlatar andValjevske Mt., Kopaonik and

Shara Mt.), southwest, south

(Rhodoppes such as Dukat,

and mountains o Vlasinaarea), southeast (Balkans

Suva and Stara Planina)and eastern Mountains(Carpathians Homoljske

Mt., Miroch, etc.)

Emigration o the rural population

leads to decline in the number oarmed animals, poor inrastructure,

lack o shepherds and o well-trainedshepherds, high losses o sheep to large

predators leading to abandonment o

grazing on higher altitude pastures.

Also, urther division o the region

through the introduction o borders

with neighbouring countries has put anend to the last transhumant practices or

sheep ocks, cutting through traditional

migration routes spanning rom south

to north and rom the mountains tothe lowlands o the Pannonian basin.

Meanwhile, the ageing population inmountain regions is no longer capableo maintaining vertical migrations at

the local-micro level which used to

provide possibilities or long-term or

permanent sustainability o grazing/mowing systems based on semi-natural

vegetation.

The long-term neglect o agriculturalextension services and grassland science

in marginal areas has resulted in a lack

o exposure to new marketing patterns,

certicates and standards whichcan add value to products derived

rom traditional arming. A simplied

rural economy with little scope ordiversication to exploit natural

resources and conditions threatens the

survival o HNVF o exceptional value

rom the biodiversity conservationperspective, cultural heritage and

conservation o cultural landscapes, etc.

HNVF in Serbia is progressively being

degraded.

The recent trend towards rehabilitating

the rural economy in certain areas

by ollowing an old pattern ointensication in spite o the natural

capacity o soils and the planned

intensication o mineral ertilizers isstill limited due to the lack o avourable

credit lines or nancing production and

lack o experience and mechanization

or reseeding grasslands. I this trendcontinues, most o the valuable semi-

natural grasslands might be destroyed

through establishment o grass-legume

mixtures; lack o systematic andmultiannual planned nancial support

and problems with marketing products

might a cause vacuum in armers

decision-making to intensiy or keepHNVF practices alive. In the meantime,

these vulnerable habitats will be lost

due to natural succession.

Variety o birds nesting in late mowed grasslands

Hunting game hare, roe deer, wild boar, Grey Partridge (Perdixperdix), Rock Partridge (Alectoris graeca) and Common Quail(Coturnix coturnix).

Large predators such as wol and jackal represent a problem orlivestock arming

Variety o grassland communities

Variety o medicinal and aromatic plants

Wild ruits such as blueber

ae programme for serbia

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