Method for assessing the proportion of ecologically, culturally and provincially significant areas (OELF) in agrarian spaces used as a criterion for environmental friendly agriculture

Environmental compatibility in agriculture depends to a great extent on the proportion of ecologically, culturally and provincially valuable areas (OELF) in the form of structural elements and virtually undisturbed habitats in fields. A method is presented which enables the assessment of the proportion of "OELF", used as a criterion for environmental friendly agriculture. To this end, both comprehensible objectives for the proportion of OELF and methods for giving evidence of the actual proportion of OELF in agrarian spaces are needed. The target proportion of OELF in agrarian spaces for the various natural areas in Thuringia was derived from precise plans concerning the use and care of agrarian spaces, in co-operation with the authorities responsible for agriculture and nature conservation, and made available to the department for agricultural management in the form of maps and tables. To calculate the actual proportion of OELF in the agrarian spaces of a farm or community as an actual value, for which as a rule there is no complete or exact spatial data available, practical methods are presented. The criterion ‘proportion of OELF in agrarian spaces’ is seen as fulfilled if the target value of the farm or community can be shown as having been achieved.