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Promoting farmers' autonomy in assessing biodiversity on their farms

2017 Coordinator: FRCIVAM (Hélène Roisille) BAGAP Contact: Audrey Alignier BAGAP Research Theme : Biodiversity conservation in agricultural and urban areas Keywords: biodiversity, farm, evaluation tool, co-construction, management practices

Research

Context and Issues

Although farmers live alongside and use biodiversity on a daily basis due to their working environment, they note a lack of knowledge on their part  in terms of identifying organisms or understanding interactions between habitats and organisms operating in agroecosystems. This recognition of their ignorance is accompanied by a fear of acting against their own interests and those of the whole community (e.g. depriving themselves of or harming a potential ecosystem service).

Objectives

As a result of a bottom-up approach, the aim of this project is to enable farmers to (re-)acquire knowledge and issues related to biodiversity in agricultural areas and to provide them with tools and methods for self-assessment of biodiversity on their farms. The practical exercise of these evaluation tools and the collective examination of the results by the farmers on the initiative of the project will make it possible to assess tools relevance and to imagine useful actions to integrate biodiversity as a fully-fledged component of their farm.

Expected Results

Beyond exchanges of expertise and experience, the expected results are an appropriation by farmers of biodiversity issue as well as a better knowledge of the tools and methods of of biodiversity assessment in agricultural areas.

Productions

Chauvy N. (2017) Outils et méthodes d’évaluation de la biodiversité à l’échelle de l’exploitation agricole. Rapport de stage de Licence Professionnelle, Université de Clermont-Ferrand. 59 p.
Chauvy N. (2017) Une base de données recensant 155 outils d’observation de la biodiversité. 4 p.

BAGAP Staff Involved

Audrey Alignier (Landscape ecology)
Bénédicte Roche

Partners

Coordination • The project, initiated by a group of 8 farmers, is coordinated and led by FRCIVAM Bretagne and Accueil Paysan 35 in partnership with Bretagne Vivante and our BAGAP research unit.