Agroscope, Institute for Plant Production Sciences IPS, 1260 Nyon, Switzerland

Evaluation of ecological measures: changes in ecological compensation areas

The increase of the share of ecological compensation areas from 5 % to 7% of the agricultural area in 1998 had different effects in the Rafzerfeld and at Ruswil/Buttisholz. While in the Rafzerfeld the area of the extensively managed meadows increased by 30 % it doubled at Ruswil/Buttisholz and the area of the few intensively managed meadows trippled. The mean size of a meadow declared as an ecological compensation area is a half or a sixth of a mean agricultural plot. But the largest of them have the size of a mean agricultural plot in the same region. In all the three regions of the study there is a tendency to place ecological compensation areas close to an existing ecological compensation area. In Combromont/Nuvilly and in Ruswil/Buttisholz it is a tendency to place ecological compensation areas near the forest.

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