Despite ambitious EU initiatives like the European Green Deal and the new EU soil strategy aiming to enhance soil health and protection, the effectiveness of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in addressing soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate impacts remains limited, especially in mountainous and vulnerable regions like Liguria, Italy. This study evaluates CAP's measures—Enhanced Conditionality (EC), Eco-schemes (ES), and Agri-Environmental Schemes (AES)—through a bioeconomic model, assessing the potential for policy mixes in preventing land abandonment and mitigating soil erosion exacerbated by climate change. Our analysis reveals that integrating action-based and results-based payments within AES, alongside EC and novel ES, can significantly enhance soil conservation efforts and prevent land abandonment in environmentally sensitive areas. The study introduces a nuanced approach to policy design and evaluation by examining the differential impacts of policy mixes that include innovative policy instruments and target hobbyist and small-scale farmers—a segment often overlooked in policy design. This inclusion is shown to be crucial for landscape preservation and enhancing the environmental performance of agricultural lands. The results demonstrate the potential synergies between various CAP instruments and the critical role of results-based payments in fostering innovative and flexible approaches to environmental stewardship among farmers. The advanced mixes, which includes a different blend of mandatory and voluntary instruments with results-based payments show a potential reduction in soil erosion, showcasing the importance of flexible and innovative approaches to environmental stewardship. At the opposite, in scenarios without CAP interventions, the simulations suggest a marked increase in soil erosion and land abandonment, emphasizing the crucial role of CAP measures in sustaining agricultural land use. The analysis contributes valuable insights for policy refinement, suggesting that a more integrated policy framework is necessary to meet immediate soil conservation challenges and align with the EU's overarching sustainability ambitions. The research highlights the importance of adaptive policy mechanisms that can respond to the complex interplay of climate change, agricultural practices, and environmental conservation efforts, thereby contributing to the resilience of European agriculture and the sustainability of its landscapes.

中文翻译：

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模拟政策组合以减少边缘地区的水土流失和土地废弃：利古里亚地区的案例研究（意大利）

尽管欧洲绿色协议和新的欧盟土壤战略等雄心勃勃的欧盟举措旨在加强土壤健康和保护，但共同农业政策（CAP）在解决土壤退化、生物多样性丧失和气候影响方面的有效性仍然有限，特别是在山区以及意大利利古里亚等脆弱地区。本研究通过生物经济模型评估了 CAP 的措施——强化条件 (EC)、生态计划 (ES) 和农业环境计划 (AES)，评估政策组合在防止土地撂荒和减轻气候加剧的水土流失方面的潜力改变。我们的分析表明，在 AES 中整合基于行动和基于结果的支付，以及 EC 和新型 ES，可以显着加强土壤保持工作，并防止环境敏感地区的土地废弃。该研究通过研究政策组合的不同影响，引入了一种细致入微的政策设计和评估方法，其中包括创新政策工具和目标爱好者和小规模农民（政策设计中经常被忽视的部分）。事实证明，这种包容性对于景观保护和提高农田的环境绩效至关重要。结果证明了各种 CAP 工具之间的潜在协同作用以及基于结果的支付在促进农民环境管理创新和灵活方法方面的关键作用。先进的组合包括强制和自愿工具的不同组合以及基于结果的付款，显示出土壤侵蚀的潜在减少，展示了灵活和创新的环境管理方法的重要性。相反，在没有 CAP 干预的情况下，模拟表明土壤侵蚀和土地废弃显着增加，强调了 CAP 措施在维持农业土地利用方面的关键作用。该分析为政策细化提供了宝贵的见解，表明需要一个更加综合的政策框架来应对眼前的土壤保护挑战并与欧盟总体可持续发展目标保持一致。该研究强调了适应性政策机制的重要性，这些机制可以应对气候变化、农业实践和环境保护工作之间复杂的相互作用，从而有助于欧洲农业的恢复力及其景观的可持续性。