Regional and environmental aspects in the implementation of Spanish agri-environmental schemes

This paper presents an initial analysis of the degree to which the European Union agri-environmental schemes have been implemented in Spain. It is focused on the way the various Regional and National Government bodies involved have interpreted Regulation EC 2078/92, rather than on the degrees of farmer participation in them. The environmental objectives of the schemes offered, in addition to the proposed scheme elements or measures, the targeted areas and the payments available, are analysed and compared within the European setting. Administrative decentralization of responsibilities for agriculture and environment, the diversity of farming uses and the dichotomy between intensified and extensive systems all generate a wide range of approaches, which are analysed in terms of their appropriateness to conservation needs. It is concluded that the implementation of agri-environmental schemes in protected areas, both terrestrial and wetlands, and their surroundings is the most ambitiously tackled objective, followed by the conservation of extensive farming systems and their natural values. Overall, the present operation of the Spanish agri-environmental programme is quite satisfactory in comparison to the objectives set in 1994, although there has been considerable delay in its implementation.