…development of extensive land use concepts for the production of renewable raw materials as possible compensatory measures…

In Germany valuable agricultural production area is lost every day through conversion. From the agricultural sector’s point of view, both the growing settlement and traffic areas and the associated compensation measures have a double effect on agricultural land loss, since compensatory measures have so far usually been planned without economic use. At the same time, the cultivation of energy crops is increasingly taking up arable land. As a result, the pressure on agricultural land increases by the intensification of farming, thereby reducing natural conservation in agriculture. This competition for the precious resource of open space affects important goals of the German government, such as the energy revolution, the preservation of biodiversity and the nationwide biotope network. Land cannot be increased.

One possible solution to mitigate the conflict of competition for land is the development of efficient multi-use concepts. Examples are extensive cultivation systems which are designed in a structural and species-rich manner and provide services for applied nature conservation and environmental protection. In this way, more benefits can be realized on the same area. This benefit is recorded and evaluated in ELKE. Like this the ELKE concept which combines nature conservation and agricultural production in the same area can develop productive compensatory measures and become a controllable and certifiable product for innovative farmers.