“Agriculture and nature conservation are not a contradiction”

Agriculture provides food and thus guarantees security of supply. At the same time, it makes an important contribution to landscape maintenance and the creation of a livelihood. One basis for this is the ÖPUL agricultural environment program, which was launched 30 years ago. The Austrian program for promoting environmentally friendly, extensive and protective agriculture contains 26 measures for sustainable management of natural resources.

Participation in the ÖPUL is voluntary and is based on an incentive system: since the measures are accompanied by an increased workload and sometimes with a lower yield, there are funding for the participating farmers. The participants are high: more than 80 percent of farmers are there across Austria, 86 percent in Upper Austria. “Increases are hardly possible here, it is about keeping the quota so high,” says Franz Waldenberger, President of the Upper Austria Chamber of Agriculture. Together with Josef Moosbrugger, President of the Austria Chamber of Agriculture, he looked back on 30 years of ÖPUL on Monday and pointed out improvement opportunities.

26 measures are provided in ÖPUL, these must be proven to get funding. For example, a biological economy is intended, a gripping of manure, alpine pasture, intermediary cultivation, preventive groundwater protection and animal welfare measures.

Moosbrugger pointed out that the biodiversity area in Austria was almost doubled within ten years. “A coexistence of the environment and agriculture has been a reality as part of the ÖPul for 30 years.” The farmers would give an active commitment to the climate, biodiversity, soil, water, air and animal welfare. The basis for the agricultural environmental measures is the common agricultural policy (GAP), the current period is still running until 2027. Moosbrugger also called for a continuation in the upcoming period and a sufficiently equipped, functional agricultural budget. In the current period, 614 million euros are earmarked for the ÖPUL measures annually. Moosbrugger emphasized that Austria was a pioneer across the EU: The areas that fall under the ÖPulpul program (more than 80 percent in Austria) would also have to be taken into account as part of the EU Redaturation Ordinance: This partly controversial set of rules stipulates that damaged environmental systems will be put back into good condition by 2050.

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