Existing and future environmental marketing schemes: lessons from the past and plans for the future.

Abstract

In the UK agri-environment measures are taken up by farmers as part of continuing subsidy/support systems. These are well designed, funded and advised schemes open to all and available everywhere. However, there is debate about whether such schemes as implemented by farmers are effective in delivering the anticipated environmental benefits. Environmental Marketing Schemes (EMS) have been developed separately and are linked to product labelling. These are of varying quality and value but all also lack scientific evidence to suggest the Scheme is delivering environmental benefits. For the Scheme to be credible, this needs to be rectified. This paper examines one such scheme, the Conservation Grade Standard, which also lacks direct evidence of benefit but which has many valuable characteristics of a credible EMS. We discuss how an EMS could be evaluated for environmental benefit and attempt to suggest how this evaluation could be designed and costed. We also suggest how farmers themselves could monitor wildlife on their farms to provide evidence and hence credibility for their chosen scheme.