Het belang van lokale factoren voor biodiversiteit op de lange termijn

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the urgent need for new policy to sustain biodiversity that is related to agricultural activity within Nature Park Serra da Estrela in Portugal. The aim of the research is to investigate which factors are important to sustain such biodiversity. Therefore, the main question is: which factors are important to develop policy to protect the biodiversity linked to traditional agriculture? The need for new policy in the Serra da Estrela is immanent. The Serra da Estrela is a European Natura 2000 site with a rich biodiversity of which many of the habitats are linked to agricultural use of the land. Through demographic changes in the last decades there has been a steady decline of the traditional agricultural population. This resulted in abandoned farms which are prone to wildfires, a considerable threat to the biodiversity (Jansen & Diemont, 2011). Because of the status as a Natura 2000 site, the Portuguese government is obliged to develop policy to protect and restore the biodiversity. However, the last years no significant action was undertaken. By using the specific method also known as the Ingenieursmethode from Geul (2006) in this research, both local conditions and scientific factors were examined in order to answer the main question. The local conditions demonstrate the importance of awareness about nature conservation among local actors, the potential for certification of organic agriculture and the possibilities for (informal) networks. The scientific factors are: the focus on the local social-economic situation, the involvement of local actors and the importance for a local approach. The conclusion of the research is that through the network approach, these local conditions and scientific factors can be combined to strengthen each other, resulting in a policy that can achieve long time conservation goals.