Wood-pastures of Europe: Geographic coverage, social–ecological values, conservation management, and policy implications

Highlights

• We synthesize the knowledge on conservation of wood-pastures in Europe.

• We present a first EU-wide quantification (203,000 km²) and map of wood-pastures.

• Wood-pastures have substantial ecological and social–cultural values.

• Multi-sectorial policies are crucial for a sustainable management of wood-pastures.

Abstract

Wood-pastures are archetypes of High Nature Value Farmlands in Europe and hold exceptional ecological, social, and cultural values. Yet, wood-pastures have been through a sharp decline all over Europe, mainly due to processes of agricultural intensification and abandonment. Recently, wood-pastures have found increasing attention from conservation science and policy across Europe. In this paper we (i) perform the first pan-European assessment of wood-pastures, considering individual countries and biogeographic regions, (ii) present the ecological and social–cultural values of a wide diversity of wood-pasture systems in Europe, (iii) outline management challenges around wood-pastures, and (iv) provide insights for the policy agenda targeting wood-pastures in Europe. We estimate that wood-pastures cover an area of approximately 203,000 km² in the European Union (EU). They are distributed across all biogeographical regions, but more abundantly in the Mediterranean and Eastern European countries. Substantial ecological values are revealed in terms of landscape level biodiversity, ecosystem dynamics, and genetic resources. Social–cultural values are related to aesthetic values, cultural heritage, and rich traditional ecological knowledge. We discuss the anthropogenic character of wood-pastures, requiring multifunctional land management, which is a major conservation challenge. Despite increasing societal appreciation of wood-pastures, their integration into effective agricultural and conservation policies has proved to be complicated, because institutional structures are traditionally organized within mono-functional sectors. We offer suggestions as to how these shortcomings might be overcome in the Common Agricultural Policy, including Rural Development policy, and the Habitats Directive of the EU. We conclude that research should be guided by a holistic vision of wood-pastures, which integrates information about ecology, societal values, and institutional arrangements.

Introduction

Protected areas may soon cover 17% of the global land surface (Watson et al., 2014), but there is wide recognition that segregated conservation strategies must be complemented by integrative approaches, especially in landscapes shaped by agriculture and forestry (Fischer et al., 2006). Efforts to realign biodiversity conservation with agricultural production have recently gained momentum, as growing competition for land (Smith et al., 2010), urban land expansion (Seto et al., 2011), and land degradation (Plieninger and Gaertner, 2011) make it increasingly difficult to set aside large areas exclusively for biodiversity conservation. One prominent integrative strategy is High Nature Value (HNV) farming, a conservation approach that links ecology, land use, and public policies and expands conservation from traditional site protection to the scale of managed landscapes (Oppermann et al., 2012). The HNV approach was developed in acknowledgement of the crucial importance of low intensity farming for many elements of biodiversity (Halada et al., 2011).

Wood-pastures – landscapes in which livestock grazing co-occurs with scattered trees and shrubs – are archetypes of High Nature Value farmland and excellent model systems to explore how such farmlands could be incorporated into conservation strategies (Bergmeier et al., 2010). They represent an important part of the European cultural and natural heritage, but are also mirrors of dramatic changes in the relationship between people and their natural environment (Rotherham, 2013). Scientific interest in wood-pastures has recently grown across Europe (e.g. Garbarino et al., 2011, Hartel et al., 2013, Horák and Rébl, 2013, Plieninger, 2012, Plieninger et al., 2015, Vojta and Drhovská, 2012). Studies of wood-pastures have been performed at plot or local scales, often generating insight for wood-pasture conservation at large. However, to inform conservation policy, such local research needs to be complemented by studies acting across regions and continents (Schimel, 2011). Therefore, our paper aims to provide the first European synthesis of the available knowledge about wood-pastures. In particular, we (i) evaluate the extent of wood-pastures in Europe by country and biogeographic region, (ii) present the ecological and social–cultural values of the variety of wood-pasture systems in Europe, (iii) outline the management challenges around wood-pastures, and (iv) suggest relevant insights for the policy agenda in Europe.