High nature value farming: environmental practices for rural sustainability - Transition Pathways towards Sustainability in Agriculture: Case Studies from Europe - page 100

use of available measures under the reformed CAP, notably to prevent intensification or
abandonment of HNV farmland, woodland and forest and supporting their restoration' 4 .
The challenge is how to discourage HNV farmers from abandoning or intensifying their
farming system in the search for better returns or for survival as farmers - both paths are
major causes of biodiversity loss (Beaufoy and Marsden, 2011).
HNVF in the context of the EU multifunctional agriculture paradigm
The concept of the multifunctionality of agriculture has been discussed over the past three
decades in the context of numerous research and policy debates. A review of the literature
reveals diverse viewpoints and the evolution of the concept. In 1988 the Commission of the
European Communities emphasized the notion of multifunctionality by recognizing the
multiple functions of agriculture and more broadly, of rural areas. Agriculture and rural
areas are considered an important part of territorial economic and social cohesion,
environmental protection and conservation, and for the vitality of rural communities. More
recently, a broader definition of multifunctionality encompasses and emphasizes the
generation of non-commodity outputs including environmental goods, food safety, animal
and plant health, animal welfare standards and quality of life in rural areas (Council of the
European Union, 1997).
From within academia, Wilson (2001) argues that the debate about productivist and
post-productivist agricultural regimes may not reflect the “diversity, non-linearity and
spatial heterogeneity that can currently be observed in modern agriculture and rural
society” (Wilson, 2001:96). Instead, he has proposed the notion of a multifunctional
agricultural regime which goes 'beyond post-productivism': “a regime that conceptually,
temporally and spatially follows on from the post-productivist transition ” (ibid:92,95). This
notion also emerged from the potential of agriculture and agricultural land to fulfil diverse
and new functions within society. These include a production function (non-commodity
goods and services), an ecological function, a cultural function and a recreation function
(Knickel and Renting, 2000; Jongeneel et al. , 2005; van Huylenbroeck et al. , 2007). These
changes, and new societal demands, imply not only a change in policy but also a change in
the institutional environment (Jongeneel et al. , 2005), creating new rules, norms, values and
attitudes.
We approach HNV areas as multifunctional rural areas where protection and
production functions coexist and are both increasingly relevant, in that they combine
different socio-economic, environmental and cultural functions in one and the same region.
European rural landscapes have been shaped by humans through pluri-activity and
multifunctional modes of rural occupancy over millennia. In general, HNVF is connected
with the conservation of rural communities and rural lifestyles, large numbers of
family/small farms, stronger local economies, regional food security, food quality and
safety, and the amenity value of the landscape (Ilbery and Bowler, 1998).
friendly land management practices for HNV grassland, biodiversity protection and nature conservation in HNV
areas in Europe.
4 COM(2006) 216 Final Communication from the Commission halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 - and
beyond. Sustaining ecosystem services for human well-being.