Files
Abstract
Agri-environment policy in Europe has been applied for more than two decades, reaching
great importance both economically and at spatial level. There is a debate in the academy
about the tangible environmental benefits achieved with this policy. The present work
analyses a whole Agri-environmental Program (6,523 beneficiary farms) for the
community support period 2007-2013, focusing on its incidence and effects in the
Galician province of Lugo, as well as the degree of implementation in relation to
demographic, economic and agricultural structure. Descriptive statistics were used to
determine the distribution in the territory of Agri-environmental Schemes (AES) and
grant amount. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the effects of
different variables on the proportion of AES, using Akaike's Information Criterion
procedure. The results show that population dynamics have significant incidence in
explaining the spatial distribution of AES In mountain areas with lower population
density and higher aging rateAES reveals to support the income of the least productive
and marginal farms and, at the same time, the conservation of Nature, especially tackling
the proliferation of forest fires. Some were widely adopted in the province, while others
focused on specific geographical areas. The ecological improvement of the physical
environment under Natura 2000 measures has the least impact on the territory.