LAFERIA is an EU-funded research project addressing the decline of landscape features (LF) in intensively farmed areas across Europe. These features, such as hedgerows, field margins, and small wetlands, are crucial for biodiversity and the delivery of ecosystem services. However, decades of intensive agriculture have led to their widespread removal. The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 calls for restoring landscape features to cover at least 10% of agricultural land, but this goal faces major challenges due to technical, economic, and social barriers. LAFERIA brings together research partners from seven European countries to tackle these challenges. In Finland, the project is led by the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).
The overall goal of LAFERIA is to identify the key factors that can promote the reintroduction of landscape features in intensive agricultural areas across Europe, and to develop strategies to overcome obstacles in achieving the target of having at least 10% of agricultural areas with high-diversity landscape features. This includes restoring landscape features in areas where they are absent and improving management in areas where they are still present.
Specific objectives include:
The University of Helsinki leads Work Package 2, which focuses on compiling and analyzing the scattered knowledge about the many roles landscape features play. The goal is to better understand how different types of features - individually and together - contribute to biodiversity, ecosystem services, and farm-level and societal outcomes, especially in intensive production contexts.
The Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) is leading a case study in two watershed areas in Southern Finland, where intensive drainage systems have replaced traditional open ditches and their vegetated margins. The remaining main ditches, many of which were once natural streams, have been channelized into straight, deep ditches that reduce ecological value. In 2023, Finland restructured its state drainage support, integrating it into the Rural Development Plans. This shift redirected investment support toward two key objectives: (a) restoring ditches using Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to enhance environmental outcomes, including biodiversity, and (b) restoring previously drained wetlands. This policy change creates new opportunities for landowners to re-profile major ditches for multiple functions, such as water regulation, pollution mitigation, and biodiversity enhancement. Exploring how these opportunities can support the reintroduction of landscape features will be a central focus of LAFERIA’s case study work in Finland.
Horizon Europe Project
Funded under grant agreement No 101181492
Running from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2028
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https://www.laferia-project.eu/
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https://bsky.app/profile/laferia-project.eu
https://www.youtube.com/@LAFERIA-project