Members of the Pandoteira project team, from the Cyprus University of Technology and Terra Cypria-The Cyprus Conservation Foundation, together with the National Rural Network of the Department of Agriculture, organized a presentation titled: “The Natura 2000 network and the importance of agricultural areas”.
The presentation took place on Thursday, June 2nd, 2022, at the Department of Agriculture and was targeting members of the National Rural Network, as well as other relevant stakeholders.
Purpose of the presentation
The purpose of this presentation was to inform the members of the National Rural Network about:
- The importance of the Natura 2000 network and the role of the Pandoteira project in protecting and sustaining the network.
- The importance of agricultural areas in protecting and sustaining the Natura 2000 network.
- The greater importance of agricultural areas for species and habitats.
- The importance of the High Nature Value farmland and how agricultural areas are characterized as such.
Topics of interest
The topics that participants showed a great interest in were:
- Funding opportunities of existing agricultural activities through the protection of nature.
- Reducing the carbon footprint of crops with the aim of achieving a competitive advantage.
- The need for a close cooperation among the academic community, government bodies and farmers, with the aim of benefiting both farmers and nature.
Future steps
We will organize specialized presentations at local communities, focusing on Special Protection Zones and wild birds.
In addition, the definition of agricultural land set-aside and how this is granted by the Cyprus Agricultural Payments Organisation is an issue that should be visited in the near future.
