Radolfzell, 03/23/2022: Farmers are currently under a lot of pressure: they are supposed to be food producers, landscape designers and nature conservationists at the same time - at least that is what many of them feel as the burdensome expectation of politics and society. Current developments in agricultural policy promise to support them in this Herculean task. But substantial support for genuine nature conservation on their production areas is hardly in sight so far.
An initiative of the EU Commission-funded LIFE Insect-Responsible Sourcing Regions (IRSR) project promises to provide at least partial relief: A wealth of action sheets in German language, which are now available for download free of charge from the project website, provide concrete tips for effective protection of biodiversity and insect populations on the farm - whether in arable farming, grassland, fruit growing, viticulture or for agricultural structures.
Concrete tips for effective measures on the farm "Our aim is to implement nature conservation in a very factual, very tangible way," says Saskia Wolf of the Lake Constance Foundation.
"We don't want to put pressure on farm managers, but rather provide concrete assistance on how they can improve the ecological situation on their farms. I think our almost forty action sheets are a very useful support: we developed them together with farmers on our demonstration farms and describe in detail how we can contribute to the protection of our natural livelihoods: Whether with species-rich tramline planting in orchards or tips for insect-friendly mowing in grassland - there's something for every farm." The pool of action sheets on the LIFE IRSR website will grow steadily in the coming months, as those responsible for the demonstration farms in the project, as well as local authorities, forestry operations and quarrying sites, diligently provide further input. The project aims to help connect the various land use stakeholders to bring biodiversity and insect conservation to the field in a sustainable way. In addition to consulting, training and exchange of experience, the action sheets are an essential building block to achieve this goal.
All German action sheets are available for download here About LIFE Insect-Responsible Sourcing Regions
The LIFE Insect Supporting Regions project works with demonstration farms in seven pilot regions in Germany to find solutions for holistic insect and biodiversity conservation at the landscape level. It is funded by the EU Commission as part of the LIFE program. Other sponsors are the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, the district of Bodenseekreis, the landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, the Stiftung Naturschutz in der Stiftergemeinschaft der Sparkasse Bodensee and the Deutsche Post Code Lotterie.
To the project website of LIFE IRSR