Measures to Protect Biodiversity: Agriculture
The loss of biodiversity is particularly pronounced in agricultural landscapes. This is alarmingly evident in the decline of insect and farmland bird populations. To protect biodiversity, agricultural landscapes must therefore be designed in such a way that species can find habitats and food. At the same time, agricultural land must continue to contribute sufficiently to food security and ensure economic viability for farmers. To take all interests into account, diverse solutions and complex framework conditions are needed.
Bringing biodiversity back into the agricultural landscape
Large areas of arable land are displacing rows of trees, hedges, loose stone walls and fallow land. As a result, there is a lack of nesting sites, food and refuges for wild animals and birds. The fields are also planted with efficient plant varieties that are optimised for high yields. These often produce only a few defence substances. Farmers therefore use fertilisers and pesticides, such as glyphosate, preventively and extensively. Over-fertilisation makes it difficult for plants and insects that specialise in nutrient-poor soils to survive.
Audioplayer
Biologist Prof Dr Katrin Böhning-Gaese on the causes of species decline
Audio in German | “Nowadays, corn is grown everywhere. It is cultivated in vast monocultures, which means that crop rotations are lost, and also the diversity of different field fruits and grains is lost. And then the use of glyphosate is clearly a major problem. The fields are already harvested in autumn, and new seeds are sown. That way, you have beautiful, even fields all winter long, and then you have good growth and a good harvest in spring. However, that means there is nothing left to eat for the birds that have usually found seeds in stubble fields during the winter. So, many things come together. We as scientists do not know exactly which of these factors is the worst. For each group of animals or plants it is probably a different factor that plays a role. The birds need hedges and such structures and if we want to have herbs on the fields, of course the use of glyphosate is fatal.”
Copyright: Peter Kiefer
In order to support biodiversity in the agricultural landscape, the landscape should be designed in such a way that agriculture and biodiversity go hand in hand. The following measures, for example, are recommended for this purpose:
Reducing the use of pesticides and fertilisers protects pollinators and beneficial insects.
Diverse crop rotations instead of monocultures, i.e. the temporal succession of as many different crops as possible on the field, increase soil life and biodiversity.
Utilisation of grassland: grazing cattle and sheep simultaneously promotes meadows with high biodiversity.
Create refuges for species - for example through hedges, flower strips and riparian strips.
Expansion of organic farming: It has been proven that there is greater biodiversity on organically farmed land.
However, many of the intensively farmed areas will continue to be used for intensive agriculture in the future. This makes it all the more important to take the pressure off intensive farming through more precise use of fertilisers and pesticides and adapted seeds. New areas of retreat for species that are sensibly connected to each other can facilitate exchange between the individual areas.
Audioplayer
Plant geneticist Prof Dr Andreas Graner on agriculture and nature conservation
Audio in German | “One way forward could be that we will have to continue with intensive agriculture on the land available at present. Just how intensive and what intensive actually means is something that farmers and crop producers will have to comment on. They will still need efficient seeds, but at the same time - and this is the crux of the matter - it is vital that we provide sufficient biotopes and retreat areas for plants, animals, and microorganisms. Plus, these retreat areas have to be connected in a purposeful way to enable inhabitants to survive or to continue to live and exist. Here we are talking about structuring agriculture, linking biotopes with green belts, and perhaps transitioning to grassland and pastures more rich and abundant in species than at present. With regard to our typical field crops, I believe that we cannot afford our extensive agriculture in the long term.”
One approach to better combining agriculture and nature is so-called biodiverse production systems. These systems combine economic utilisation with the protection of species, habitats and ecosystems. Through a combination of crops, mixed cultures and structural elements such as hedges, trees and water bodies, biodiverse production systems support biodiversity and at the same time utilise ecosystem services, such as the pollination services of insects or the wood and fruit of trees. Examples of biodiverse production systems include agroforestry systems (i.e. a combination of arable farming or animal husbandry with trees and shrubs), polycultures (i.e. the joint cultivation of crops such as beans, maize and pumpkins) or near-natural aquaculture.
Integrated use of peatlands
As described in Chapter 2, peatlands make an important contribution to climate and biodiversity protection. It is therefore crucial to rewet as many drained peatlands in Germany as possible. New utilisation concepts should be developed together with farmers for drained peatland sites that are used intensively for agriculture. Numerous agricultural products could also be grown on moorland, so-called paludicultures. Moors could also be used as wet pastures or as sites for photovoltaic systems.
Reeds as insulation and building materials
Cattail for the production of building boards, paper and packaging
Alder for wood recyclables and furniture production
Peat moss as a substitute for climate-damaging peat in potting soils
Sedges and rushes as fodder, bedding and biogas
Grazing on wet meadows for water buffalo
Energetic utilisation of biomass for the production of briquettes or biogas plants
Location for photovoltaic systems
Another option would be to honour the ecosystem services provided by peatlands. If peatland protection were included inCO2 emissions trading, landowners could benefit economically from the fact that their land is rewetted and binds large amounts ofCO2. In return, climate-damaging subsidies that still promote the drainage of the landscape should be abolished.
Deepening the topic
- "Peatlands for Posterity" – News, 15 May 2026
- Digital dossier "Moors and floodplains: On the transformation of wet landscapes" (German only)
- Statement "Climate - water balance - biodiversity: in favour of an integrated use of peatlands and floodplains" (2024, German only))
- “Cleverly linking the powers of technical and natural systems” - Interview with Klement Tockner and Franziska Tanneberger
- Virtual panel "Wet moors! Climate protection, nature conservation and utilisation perspectives" (German only)
Agriculture in water: Aquaculture
Fish, crustaceans, mussels and algae play an important role in the human diet. They provide valuable proteins and omega-3 fatty acids. In many countries such as the Maldives, Japan, Korea and Iceland, fish and crustaceans are the main source of animal protein. However, the high demand has led to overfishing of the oceans. Aquaculture, i.e. the controlled breeding of aquatic organisms, has become established in many places as an alternative to fishing. Today, more than half of the fish, mussels, crustaceans and algae consumed worldwide come from aquaculture.
Questions and answers
Question
What are the challenges of aquaculture?
Answer
Aquaculture is developing into an alternative for the production of animal protein, as fish convert feed more efficiently than livestock on land. However, there are also negative ecological effects: Feed residues, fish faeces and chemicals end up in the water and lead to high levels of water pollution. Diseases can spread quickly in aquaculture and can also be transmitted to wild animals. Fighting diseases with medication can promote antibiotic resistance. Fish feed often consists of wild fish and therefore continues to contribute to overfishing of the oceans. Outbreaks of individual farmed fish from aquaculture are also problematic. These farmed fish can interbreed with wild populations in the wild and change genetically, leading to a loss of species in wild populations.
Freshwater aquaculture in particular has the potential to become a sustainable alternative to the production of animal protein. Closed-loop systems can be established here that, for example, recycle wastewater or use it as fertiliser for other agricultural products. New AI technologies can support the efficient use of feed and monitor populations for diseases and anomalies.
Video Virtual panel discussion "Can Aquaculture Boost Food Security? Sustainable Fish Production in Brazil and Europe"
Deepening the topic
EU agricultural policy
Farmers are not independent in their decisions on the direction of agriculture. They have to take into account economic interests as well as external framework conditions. In the European Union, there is also the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which has a strong steering effect.
Questions and answers
Question
What is the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)?
Answer
The Common Agricultural Policy regulates how the EU supports agriculture financially. In principle, the aim is to ensure food security in Europe, financial security for farmers and stable food prices in the EU. The measures consist primarily of direct payments to agricultural businesses. The CAP is also dedicated to rural development and includes climate, environmental and animal welfare measures. However, the CAP also allows the EU to control the objectives of land management. The transfer payments are primarily based on the size of the land. They are independent of the type of production, i.e. they are not linked to whether the management contributes to the common good, e.g. by making it biodiversity-friendly.
In order to achieve more biodiversity in the agricultural landscape, biodiversity-friendly management should also be economically worthwhile by rewarding these services to the common good more financially than in the past.
Audioplayer
Biologist Prof Dr Katrin Böhning-Gaese on the EU's agricultural policy
Audio in German | “Funds in Brussels are currently distributed mainly according to how much land a farmer cultivates, simply based on hectares. So large farms get a lot and small farms get little. In the future, this should be linked much more to their contribution to the common good. In other words, what they are actively doing for environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, and climate protection. Very good models are already available to convert this and award certain points for specific contributions. This would put the focus much more on the common good, what concerns all of us, and what is good for all of us.”
Copyright: Peter Kiefer
With the 2023-2027 reform, the CAP explicitly recognises ecosystem services and also includes payments for specific environmental services such as flowering areas, diverse crop rotations and the reduction of plant protection products. However, the majority of funds will continue to be distributed on a flat-rate basis according to area. The incentive for farmers to farm in a biodiversity-friendly way is therefore still too low.
Published: October 2020, Updated: April 2026