Innovative Contract Designs for Biodiversity in Agriculture

This study examines 62 contracts integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services into agricultural management, focusing on design features, governance, and implementation success. It analyzes three main types: Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES), land tenure contracts, and value chain contracts. PES contracts, often publicly funded, use result-based payments to reward environmental performance, enhancing farmer autonomy. Value chain contracts show the highest innovation through bottom-up, tailored agreements between producers and processors. Hybrid contracts combining features of multiple types demonstrate stronger contextual adaptation. Soft factors—shared vision, trust, mutual responsibility—are critical for success. Farmer involvement and joint design with funding bodies and advisors improve acceptance, especially in Agri-Environmental-Climate Measures (AECM). The research covers Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Peru, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, and the USA. Conducted within the contracts2.0 project, findings are available at: https://www.project-contracts2.0.eu/practice-abstracts/ and https://ec.europa.eu/eip/agriculture/en/find-connect/projects/contracts2.0-co-design-von-innovativen. An image of a bumblebee on a purple flower symbolizes biodiversity integration in agriculture.