Factsheet - Designing successful schemes to promote the maintenance, restoration and creation of landscape features

The introduction of a 10% target for highdiversity landscape features on all agricultural land in the EU in the Biodiversity Strategy 2030 (and the related target in the proposed Nature Restoration Law) provides new impetus for action on landscape features. Member States’ CAP Strategic Plans will be a relevant source of support for land managers to achieve that level of coverage and thereby benefit biodiversity.

Landscape features can have significant benefits for the environment alongside those for biodiversity, such as reduced risk of soil erosion and floods, improved water infiltration, availability and carbon capture and protection of pollinators. This document reviews definitions and examples from different EU Member States - based on inputs from the EU CAP Network Thematic Group on Landscape Features & Biodiversity.

It then highlights challenges to maintaining, restoring and creating landscape features, existing support schemes designed to overcome challenges, and presents policy recommendations for good scheme design to promote landscape features & biodiversity.