A landscape perspective on conservation of semi-natural grasslands

Current agri-environmental schemes and subsidies for conservation and restoration of semi-natural grasslands do not explicitly assess land use changes affecting whole landscapes, but have so far focused on single objects and small areas. In this paper, we discuss a landscape perspective versus a "single object" perspective when conserving semi-natural grassland in agricultural landscapes. The focus is on the values biodiversity, cultural heritage, a vital countryside, and effects on economy when land use changes. We conclude that when land use change in the landscape surrounding an object, important additional effects on the different values are found. For example, a countryside where animals graze former arable fields and where marginal habitats are managed will have a positive effect, not only on the biodiversity associated to semi-natural grasslands, but also for the image of a vital and dynamic landscape. An increased number of roads, on the other hand, may negatively affect cultural heritage and decrease biodiversity in grasslands, leading to negative effects on the value of common goods through isolation. Placing objects in a larger spatial context and combining several different aspects into a landscape perspective, will improve long-term preservation of values associated to semi-natural grasslands. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.