The hydric soil characteristics of agricultural wetlands provide a distinct ecosystem from other land types. Wetlands support the provision of many ecosystem services, principally water purification, flood control and carbon sink. Despite the existence of various international agreements and national policies (notably specific Agri-Environmental Measures), wetlands have been lost or are threatened. These threats are linked to the lack of agricultural profitability of these areas but also to changing legislations. The uncertainties around the legislation frame coupled to the potential high penalties and the opportunity costs has incited some farmers to sell or abandon their wetlands. The proposed payments in the existing Agri-Environmental Measures (AEM) do not provide enough incentive for farmers, especially for high capital-intensive farms. Higher payments would lead to decrease of abandonment.

Our aim was to value several public goods provided jointly by the agricultural management of wetlands. We selected five public goods namely water filtration, flood resilience, suitable fishing conditions, carbon sequestration and habitat for biodiversity. Read more…

Today, the current AEM proposed to the farmers do not prevent high abandonment. Local stakeholder has stressed the need to improve the system governance in order to maintain farmers on wetlands. Read more…