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EU Organisations

European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (EFNCP)

Introduction

The European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (EFNCP) was established in 1988 as a Europe-wide network which raises awareness of the importance of low-intensity farming for nature conservation and aims to improve the way public policies respond to the needs of these farming systems.

Structure, key stakeholders and partners

The EFNCP is a non-profit organisation, functioning legally as a company limited by guarantee under English law. The governing body is the Executive Committee, which is elected by the Members, who own the organisation.

EFNCP brings together conservationists, policy makers, researchers, farmers and Non-Governmental Organisations, and is keen to work with anyone who shares its vision.

Priorities and activities

The aims of the European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism are the following:

  • Working to reverse the decline of the low-intensity farming types that most benefit biodiversity across Europe at the landscape scale, summarised in the term High Nature Value (HNV) farming.
  • Raising awareness of the need to make these farming types socially, economically and environmentally sustainable at the farm and landscape scales in order to conserve European biodiversity and wider ecosystem services.
  • Improving understanding, through research and local case-study projects, of the policy, socio-economic and cultural interactions that are key factors in a sustainable future for HNV farming.
  • Developing, testing and promoting innovative policy solutions through research, case-studies and dialogue with local and EU partners.
  • Encouraging networking and dialogue, especially between actors from the environmental and farming worlds who traditionally have found it difficult to find common ground.
  • Engaging with EU policy processes, especially on the Biodiversity Strategy and CAP.

To achieve its aims, EFNCP organises conferences, targeted seminars and workshops, and publishes a regular newsletter (La Cañada). Many EFNCP meetings include farm visits providing an opportunity to speak to the farmers and managers. EFNCP is also actively involved in projects on the ground in areas of HNV farming in several countries.

Further information