Agrarian nature conservation organisations and agricultural sectors
Many agrarian nature conservation organisations (agrarische natuurverenigingen) primarily involve dairy farmers.
| Distribution of agrarian nature conservation organisations across sectors, 2001 | |
| Agricultural sector | Percentage |
| More than 50% of members dairy farmers | 64% |
| More than 50% of members mixed farmers | 9% |
| More than 50% of members arable farmers, or involved in intensive livestock farming or bulb cultivation | 9% |
| Other | 17% |
| Source: CLM | RIVM/NC/Oct02 |
Current situation
Many agrarian nature conservation organisations are dominated by one particular agricultural sector due to the basically uniform type of land use in the relevant region. In the case of 64% of the organisations, dairy farmers are the majority; in others a wider spectrum of agricultural sectors is represented.
Dairy farming plays a major role in agrarian nature conservation organisations. Dairy farmers have long been more closely involved in agrarian nature management than arable farmers, for example. It is in fact easier to incorporate agrarian nature management into dairy farming operations than into arable farming. The overrepresentation of dairy farms is also apparent from the Landbouwtelling (Agricultural Census) (F2.11).
Technical note
The data are from a survey of agrarian nature conservation organisations carried out early in 2001. The questionnaire was sent to all known agrarian nature conservation organisations (total: 110). The Boermarken in Drenthe - long-standing partnerships between farmers who manage communal land - were not included in the survey. The response was 68%, but in some cases respondents did not answer all the questions. Absolute numbers therefore need to be interpreted with caution. The primary significance of the results is that they enable comparisons to be made.
References
- Oerlemans, N., J. A. Guldemond en E. van Well (2001). Agrarische natuurverenigingen in opkomst. Een eerste verkenning naar natuurbeheeractiviteiten van agrarische natuurverenigingen. Planbureau-werk in uitvoering. Intern werkdocument 2001/12 Natuurplanbureau. Wageningen.
