The research project PEGASUS, on which Euromontana is involved, is about to start its action research in 32 territorial cases studies all over Europe, representing different situations for farming and forestry systems.
Thanks to these case studies, PEGASUS will gain a detailed understanding of how farming and forestry management should be managed in order to provide environmental and social benefits of good quality and quantity. The different drivers or initiatives in policy and markets that encourage the provision of these ecosystem services will also be studied, such as the factors that currently inhibit the provision of these benefits. In the end, it will allow to better understand how to transform practice at the ground level and how to encourage stakeholders to provide more ecosystem services.
Several case studies will take place in mountain areas. For instance mountain forestry in Pinzgau (Austria) will be studied to better understand the provisions of environmental and social benefits linked to functions of mountain forests on soils and protective functions for settlement and land, landscape. Or the agri-forestry systems in the sub-alpine Slovenia will be covered to see how mountain agriculture and mountain products can contribute to the conservation of traditional knowledge of animal breeding, to rural vitality and help to regulate services such as water quality and soil preservation or flood and erosion protection.
Other cases studies in mountain areas will be organic farming in mountain region Murau in Austria; agriculture in natural parks in Marche region in Italy; Volvic water company in the Massif central in France or North Pennines multi-stakeholder partnership for sustainable uplands in UK.
Euromontana will keep you informed about the results of these case studies.
PEGASUS has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 633814.
23 February 2016
