Maintenance of this rich biodiversity range requires active management of non-forested wetland ecosystems. These wetland complexes were created semi-naturally, as a by-product of extensive agricultural land management, and are now considered an integral part of the traditional local rural scenery. Conservation of the whole mosaic of unique wetland habitat types, especially valuable wet meadows, requires that farmers use traditional, mostly abandoned traditional agricultural practices. Such extensive farming practices include mowing and grazing on wet meadows.

Forest cover of the area has grown by nearly 95% over the period of 30 years, non-forested meadows continued to diminish, as farmers chose to abandon the most demanding wet meadows. At present, grazing and cutting regimes of the area are significantly different than 30 year ago, accompanied by simplified, less work-intensive practices. This requires an action: farmers, without political and financial support, will not choose extensive practices that have the potential to create unique ecosystems because they are demanding and costly. The practices include those performed on all kinds of privately owned land: improved utilization of fertilizers, crop diversification, catch crops on arable land; peatland protection; extensive mowing and grazing, and reduction of livestock on meadows. We decided to analyze the provision of public goods (mainly biodiversity, with unique species of birds) by the river valley agricultural system in the context of intensification of agricultural land use (and abandonment of traditional agricultural practices because of their increasing alternative costs).