Summary

Oversigt over anvendte virkemidler til etablering af sprøjtefri randzoner

Background and Purpose
The investigation
Project results and main conclusions
Other sources

Background and Purpose

The Danish Government has set goals to reduce the use and impact of pesticides in the Pesticide Plan 2004-2009. One of the goals of the Pesticide Plan 2004-2009 is to reach 25,000 hectares of pesticide-free buffer zones along targeted waterways and lakes by the end of 2009.

The Pesticide Plan 2004-2009 underlines a number of measures to reach the goal of 25,000 hectares of pesticide-free buffer zones, such as intensified information campaigns, increased counselling of farmers, farming, pesticide-free buffer zones under the farm set-aside scheme (now called the Single Farm Payment).

The latest statement for the Danish Parliament Committee of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries shows that the area of pesticide-free buffer zones along targeted lakes and waterways has dropped from year 2004 to 2006, and is now covering 6,310 hectares (in 2006). In spite of the number of initiatives to improve the pesticide-free buffer zones, it is important to analyse the reasons why no major progress has been made and - especially - to consider how the development can be reversed.

Therefore, terms of reference were set up for the Committee of measures for pesticide-free buffer zones on 10 October 2006. The Committee, which has inter-ministerial participation of the Danish Ministries of the Environment, Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Finance will among other things analyse the measures to establish pesticide-free buffer zones.

The Committee decided to implement a project with the purpose to make an outline of the following aspects:

• What measures for pesticide-free buffer zones has been offered so far

• The extent of the use of the individual measures

• If possible, indications of the impact of the measures on the implementation of pesticide-free buffer zones

• The use of pesticide-free buffer zones in other EU-countries and the measures that may be used in the individual member states.

In these circumstances the prepared list shall be used to recommend alternative ways of using already known measures and/or identify possible new meausures.

The investigation

The collection of data of Danish measures includes a gross list of literature, a list of resource persons, screening and prioritisation of important sources in cooperation with the project reference group (resulting in a net list), review of literature, and current, elaborating inquiries to relevant contact persons.

Collection of data on measures in the three selected EU countries (England, Germany and Sweden) has primarily taken place through three central contact persons.

Project results and main conclusions

Supplied measures in Denmark

Economic measures of importance to pesticide-free buffer zones along lakes and waterways include the following measures today:

• Farm set-aside areas according to the Single Farm Payment

• Environmental subsidies

• Diversion to ecological subsidies

• Agri- environmental measures (in Danish: "MVJ-ordninger"):

- Farm set-aside buffer zones along lakes and waterways

- Nursing of grass and nature

- Maintaining and nursing of wetlands

A basic restructuring of the economic measures in 2007 has been made, and the significant changes are:

• Simplification of the programmes, as the number of relevant Agri- environmental measures have been reduced from 9 to 3 programmes, and the conditions have been simplified and harmonized

• The subsidies for the Agri- environmental measures "Farm set-aside buffer zones along lakes and waterways" has increased from 750 DKK/hectares per year to 1,200 DKK/hectares per year

• The subsidies to the remaining Agri- environmental measures are no longer calculated according to the former use of the area, but according to the costs of the various nursing commitments

• Introduction of cross compliance requirements to the Agri- environmental measures

The first two changes - the simplification and the increased subsidies - are expected to have a positive impact on the dissemination of pesticide-free buffer zones, while in some situations the two last changes may function as barriers for further dissemination. This is clarified in detail below:

The major simplicity of the subsidies are expected to reduce some of the barriers of dissemination of pesticide-free buffer zones along waterways and lakes as emphasised in the literature cf. chapter 6.1, namely the lack of knowledge about the subsidies and the fact that the administrative conditions may be experienced as a barrier.

The increase of the subsidies for the Agri- environmental measures: "pesticide-free buffer zones along waterways and lakes" may be expected to increase the economic incentive for the farmers to choose pesticide-free buffer zones along waterways and lakes.

The changed calculation of the subsidies so that they are no longer dependant on the previous use of the area may mean that the profitable cultivated areas will obtain minor subsidies than previously. The effect of this change on the size of the total buffer zone area is not assessed.

The cross compliance requirement entails that the farmer may be drawn on his Single Farm Payment subsidies, if the conditions of the Agri- environmental measures are not kept. This may discourage some farmers from applying for the Agri- environmental measures, and thus be a barrier for further pesticide-free buffer zones. On the other hand the control of compliance with the agreements on Agri-environmental measures may improve the effect of the Agri-environmental measures.

Administrative measures with relevance for this project include a requirement of a 2 meter cultivation-free zone along waterways and lakes. No further administrative measures have been used. However, a demand for a buffer zone of 10-12 meters applies to waterways when using several pesticides, but this is depending on the pesticide product.

Of the two initiatives of the Pesticide-free Action Plan 2004-2009 concerning consultancy and information, it is only one of the initiatives that the public authorities have been directly involved in, namely the consultancy measure. DFFE (The Directorate for Food, Fisheries and Agri Business) has made an agreement with the Danish Agricultural Advisory Service to provide consultancy to the farmers concerning the reduction of the use of pesticides. 18 million DKK is allocatede for this purpose through the Finance Act. Consultancy concerning pesticide-free buffer zones comprise one of four consultancy fields included in the agreement, and the consultancy of farmers about the use of pesticide-free buffer zones account for approximately 9 per cent of the Danish Agricultural Advisory Service's budgeted expenses for consultancy on the reduction of the farmers' use of pesticides in 2006.

The intensified information campaign is carried out by the organization Danish Agriculture and the effect of this measure can not be assessed. The purpose of this measure is to increase the knowledge of pesticide-free buffer zones.

Use and impact - Danish Measures

Economic Measures

Today there are so profound divergences between the areas with registered applications for the various subsidy programmes and the actually observed agricultural areas that it is impossible to assess the impact of the different economic measures. When the results of the ongoing project on mapping of the buffer zones are completed^[2], the relation between the economic measures and the impact can probably be established.

According to the available data, the measures "the farm set-aside scheme of the Single Farm Payment" and "the diversion to ecology" have had a substantial importance for the size of pesticide-free buffer zones along targeted lakes and waterways, while the Agri- environmental measures have not been of particular importance. However, it is also conceivable that the Agri- environmental measures have resulted in a substantial dissemination of pesticide-free buffer zones along targeted lakes and waterways, but there are no available data to support this.

It can be concluded that the most important economic measures have been created for other reasons than establishing pesticide-free buffer zones along waterways and lakes. This means partly that no systems have been set up to register the extent to which these programmes contribute to fulfil the goal of pesticide-free buffer zones along waterways and lakes, partly that the programmes can be changed for the sake of other considerations than promoting pesticide-free buffer zones along waterways and lakes, as it can be seen at present through the zero setting of the farm set-aside scheme. The used measures are therefore vulnerable to changed prioritisations in these other fields, and not targeted towards the specific problems.

Information and Agreements

There is no available assessment of the impact of the two measures "consultancy" and "information". Therefore, it is not possible to conclude on how many farmers have established pesticide-free buffer zones along targeted lakes and waterways in consequence of these measures.

Supply and use of Measures in the EU

England, Germany and Sweden have - according to evaluations of their subsidy Programmes - achieved what is described as a success or goal performance with dissemination of pesticide-free buffer zones. The efficient goal performance may be due to the fact that the economic incentive of these countries measures has been higher than in Denmark, but it may also be due to the fact that the bases of the goal performances are lower than in Denmark. Finally, it may be due to a large number of other elements such as better possibilities of monitoring the use of measures, detailed information material about the measures and the goodwill of the local inhabitants (buffer flower zones in Niedersachsen in Germany).

Conclusion and recommendations

By a possible future adaptation of existing measures and/or experiments of using new measures, it is recommended - on the basis of this analysis - to include the following considerations:

• Legislation on mandatory pesticide-free buffer zones along targeted lakes and waterways

• The cost effectiveness of the measures in relation to the goals

• Minimization of the consequences of the EU's zero setting of the farm set-aside scheme in order to prevent that a major part of the existing farm set-aside areas - zoned as pesticide-free buffer areas - is not re-cultivated

• Investigation of the possibilities of demanding the growing of flowers in the pesticide-free buffer zones - in line with the experiences from Niedersachsen - to increase the beauty of the landscape and reduce the monitoring costs (easier to monitor the measure)

• Sufficient economic incentives in the economic subsidy programmes taking into consideration the EU's ceiling on the subsidies of 20 per cent above the income loss

• Targeted selection of the farmers with agricultural areas along waterways and lakes in the consultancy effort

• Since a large part of the areas bordering waterways in Denmark are already zoned the potential for further pesticide-free buffer zones may be limited. An assesment of this issue must wait for the results of the ongoing project on mapping of the buffer zones. Expectations to the impact of the measures should be determined in this light

• Better possibilities of control and monitoring of the use and impact of each measure to make it possible to observe and adjust the measures currently

• Use the results from the mapping project of the buffer zones to make a closer estimate of the impact of the individual measures

Other sources

The following home pages are recommended for the Danish measures etc. for further clarification of the subject:

• DFFE: http://www.dffe.dk/

• The Danish Agricultural Advisory Service: http://www.dlbr.dk/ForsideNY.htm
http://www.lr.dk/planteavl/informationsserier/aktuelt/pl_aktuelt_05002.htm

• the Danish Forest and Nature Agency: http://www.skovognatur.dk/Emne/Naturbeskyttelse/Naturpleje/
Naturforvaltningsmidler/

Home pages for further information of international experience:

• Game Conservancy Trust i England: www.gct.org.uk

• DEFRA in England: www.defra.gov.uk

• www.europa.eu

• The General Directorates of the EU Commission : http://ec.europa.eu/dgs_da.htm

• DG Environment: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/environment/index_en.htm

• Department D of the DG Environment: Water, Chemicals & Cohesion: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/environment/directory.htm

• DG-SANCO (health and consumer protection): http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm

• DG-AGRI

Fodnoter

^[2] At present a mapping of the total area of cultivation free buffer zones and pesticide-free buffer zones takes place and is finished by the end of 2007. The reference group of the Water Environment Plan III has initiated the mapping project. The Danish Forest and Nature Agency is the chairman of the reference group and the project in question.