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The evaluation study IV - Mountain Area - includes the results of the observation, analysis and evaluation activities of the data related to the interventions and actions funded during the 2015-2017 period through the NRDP 2014-2020, at the level of mountain area.

The main objective of the Guidelines is to provide a non-binding complement to other guidelines and offer advice to RDP evaluation stakeholders on how to carry out the evaluation activities for answering the common evaluation questions related to innovation. Since the RDP’s effects on innovation in rural areas can be expected to take place, most likely, in the long-term, the guidelines focus in particular on those evaluation related activities, which will be reported in the AIR in 2019 and in the ex post evaluation. The Guidelines are structured in three parts:

• Chapter 1: explains the innovation system in rural areas and the concept of the evaluation of innovation in rural development. The concept introduces the EU and RDP policy framework and how they interrelate with each other, as well as the overview of the common evaluation elements.
• Chapter 2: informs Managing Authorities about specificities linked to managing the evaluation of innovation and reporting requirements. Chapter 2.2 explains the approaches to answering the innovation related evaluation questions and provides specific guidance for each of the common evaluation questions: numbers 1, 2, 21, 23 and 30 concerning those aspects which relate to innovation.
• Chapter 3 (Annexes): includes the glossary and the steps for identifying the RDP innovation potential.

The Guidelines: Evaluation of National Rural Networks 2014-2020 is a non-binding document, which serves to complement the legal requirements relating to NRN evaluations. The document clarifies the common elements related to NRN evaluations and gives a wider set of recommendations on how to formulate and manage NRN evaluations, both as a stand-alone exercise and as a part of RDP evaluations. 

The evaluation covers all the PNGRAT measures and their combined effects: sub-measure 17.1 (crop, animal and plant insurance); sub-measure 17.2 (mutual funds); technical assistance. The analysis relates to the implementation of the program within its scope of metropolitan application (measures not deployed in the French overseas departments), from its start in 2014 until the end of 2017.

The aim of the study was to analyse the function of the impact orientation system as a steering and control instrument at the level of the local action groups for the implementation of the local development strategy and the internal quality control/self-evaluation of the LAG, as well as a steering instrument at the level of the administrative authority.

The study focuses on how habitats have changed under Higher Level Stewardship Scheme (HLS) and whether changes are influenced by agreement or agreement holder characteristics. A total of 173 HLS agreements were resurveyed in 2015 and 2016 which were widely distributed across England and followed a baseline survey in 2009-2011. Additionally, 137 agreement holders were interviewed face-to-face using a semi-structured questionnaire.

Data were collected on the agricultural use of permanent grassland and the occurrence of valuable biotope types and grassland-bound bird species at the level of small-scale production areas. In addition, a written survey of 1,848 Austrian farmers was carried out, particularly on their motives for past and planned changes in the management intensity of permanent grassland.

These non-binding Guidelines aim to examine the challenges in relation to the evaluation activities for the AIR in 2019 by:

• Presenting practical approaches to estimate the RDP’s net contributions to the common CAP impact indicators and assess the progress in achieving the EU level objectives; 
• Providing support for answering the common evaluation questions (CEQs) 22-30 and for reporting on evaluation findings to the European Commission in the AIRs submitted in 2019.

The Guidelines are structured in four parts (presented in three documents):

• PART I (primarily for Managing Authorities): informs about the legal requirements and outlines how to report in 2019 on the CEQs 22-30. Part I contains references to other existing guidance. 
• PART II (primarily for evaluators): offers methodological support for assessing the common impact indicators of Pilar II (sectoral, environmental and socio-economic impacts). This part explains each intervention logic, the use of additional evaluation elements, explains the data requirements, the units of assessment and guides the reader through choosing the most appropriate evaluation approaches for netting out the RDP’s contributions to the values of the CAP impact indicators. Furthermore, Part II also suggests approaches to assess RDP contributions towards achieving the EU 2020 strategy and innovation. 
• PART III: contains the fiches for answering the CEQs 22–30.
• PART IV: contains the technical annex including more detailed information on the approaches to assess the CAP impact indicators and the glossary of terms.

The approach used in this work is to use computer models of pollutant emissions from agricultural land and the effect of changes in land management to provide a complementary intermediate between result and impact indicators by forecasting the potential long-term impact of GLAS management interventions in advance of long-term environmental monitoring for impact detection. Computer models are used to quantify the proportion of the baseline total pollutant load that is managed by farms in scheme, that part which is potentially controllable by the selected management interventions, and the likely reduction in load on the assumption of best practice.

The impact of agri-environmental measures on farm birds, particularly the Farmland Bird Index species was surveyed.