Project title: “Farmer and community perspectives on agro-ecological strategies”. 

 

Project description:

Intensive agricultural practices can be detrimental to biodiversity. In recent years, there has been a debate regarding whether and how we can meet growing food demands with minimal damage to biodiversity conservation. In the past, nature protection was focused on specific areas allotted for conservation, i.e. government approved nature parks and reserves. Other solutions focus on creating ecological corridors and bridges. The proposed solution, on which the current study focuses, involves changing agricultural practices that are environmentally unsustainable, in order to allow ecosystem protection and rehabilitation, thus making fields an integral part of nature. EU schemes and others around the world already involve governmental restitution for lower earnings for adopting more environmental-friendly practices. In particular, the UK model focuses on five such aspects: reducing pesticide use, cultivating field margins, encouraging structural complexity, community outreach and preventing soil erosion. The current study, performed in Harod valley, Israel, involved surveys, interviews and focus groups, in which farmers and their communities were asked to share their positions and perceptions regarding these (and other) agro-ecological strategies, including farmer feedback on the possibility of implementing a similar scheme to that of the UK model.