SOS/BirdLife: Farmers Have Created More Than 7,000 kms of Biodiversity Strips

Bratislava, 22 July (TASR) - Three years ago, Slovakia was the country with the largest areas of monoculture farmland in the EU, whereas today more than 7,000 kilometres of biodiversity strips run through the fields, dividing large agricultural plots, helping to retain water, protecting soil from erosion and contributing to the return of birds, pollinators and small game, TASR learnt from SOS/BirdLife's Jozef Ridzon on Wednesday. He added that this is one of the biggest changes to Slovakia's agricultural landscape since the era of collectivisation. However, its future remains uncertain, as support for such measures will be decided when the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the post-2027 period is set. Land consolidation during collectivisation created extensive monoculture fields, with their size being a subject of public debate for many years, in particular when oil-seed rape flowers created continuous yellow fields, thus fully revealing the scale of large agricultural plots. A turning point came with the CAP for 2023-2027. Thanks to the voluntary whole-farm eco-scheme, farmers began dividing large fields using 12-metre-wide biodiversity strips. This isn't only about visually breaking up the landscape; the strips have become a refuge for many species that have gradually disappeared from intensively farmed agricultural areas. The return of birds to agricultural landscapes is one of the most visible benefits, according to Ridzon. During three years of monitoring, ornithologists recorded as many as 68 bird species in the strips. According to a questionnaire held among hunting ground users in 2024, as many as 72 percent of the respondents had observed a rise in small game populations, with the estimated increase ranging between 10 and 30 percent. However, according to SOS/BirdLife, the future of bio-strips remains uncertain. The EU is currently preparing its new budget and the shape of the CAP after 2027, while Slovakia is deciding what level of support will be allocated to farmers. If support for environmental measures is reduced or no longer provides sufficient motivation for farmers, many biodiversity strips could disappear from the landscape again. Maintaining the current level of support, a whole-farm approach and appropriate remuneration for farmers is crucial, therefore, added Ridzon. jrg/df