The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust-led Interreg NSR PARTRIDGE project is rolling out a multi-nation survey across Scotland, England, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands.
The survey explores motivations, other than payments, that farmers have for joining agri-environment schemes, how advice and advisors fit into this, how the AES options available at present could be improved, and what other options the sector would like to see offered in the future.
Dr Dave Parish, head of GWCT Scottish Lowland Research, said: “The survey is particularly timely as we are now starting to see the outlines of the future for AES post-Brexit. The results of the survey will not only be published through the project and in the scientific press but, more importantly, they will be fed directly to policy makers to influence discussions on the Environment Land Management Scheme (ELMS), the Agri-environment Climate Scheme (AECS) and the broader development of AES.”
The PARTRIDGE project’s overall objective is to bring about changes in behaviours and working practices, particularly with regard to the uptake of agri-environment schemes, for the long-term sustainable management of farmland ecosystems.
The survey can be completed at https://northsearegion.eu/partridge/
