Agricultural land use changes in Eiderstedt : historic developments and future plans

The Eiderstedt peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) has a long tradition as agricultural land. In the past, the landscape has been generally dominated by extensively used grassland. These grassland areas are home to many bird species, so that Eiderstedt can be considered to be one of the most important bird habitats in Schleswig-Holstein. Ongoing changes in the structure of the regional agriculture towards an intensified dairy production and the growth of biofuels call for a conversion of large shares of grassland to arable farm land. However, these plans are fiercely debated because a strong decline in grassland area is likely to have a considerable ecological impact on domestic meadowbird species. In this study, these problems accompanying an extensive land use change on Eiderstedt are explored. Three possible scenarios of transformations of agricultural land are developed which can be applied to determine the possible impacts of such conversions. 1 Ecological implications of land use choices on Eiderstedt The peninsula Eiderstedt at the West coast of Schleswig-Holstein is a region that is traditionally mainly used agriculturally. The dominant agricultural land use options are extensive management of grassland and the production of crops on arable farm land. Historically, there have been distinct shifts in the shares of these two land use options, each altering the characteristics of the landscape of Eiderstedt considerably. In times when the focus of agricultural activities on Eiderstedt was on the export of cattle as was the case in the late 19th century (Hammerich 1984), practically all agricultural land on Eiderstedt was used as grassland (LVermA-SH 2007a). But there were also periods in which more than half of the land was arable farm land. These shifts in land use have ecological implications as Eiderstedt is considered to be one of the prime habitats for meadowbirds in Germany (Hötker et al. 2005) breeding in the large grassland and wetland areas adjacent to the North Sea. In addition, vast amounts of migrating birds pass through Eiderstedt in spring on their way from wintering grounds in the South to Scandinavia as well as on their way back in fall. The Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) classifies Eiderstedt as wetland region of international importance based on the Ramsar convention (NABU 2005). Most of the bird species breeding on Eiderstedt prefer extensively used grassland or wetlands as breeding habitat, while arable farm land is much less suitable for the rearing of offspring. Currently, approximately three quarters of the agricultural land on Eiderstedt is used as grassland (Stat A Nord 2004). However, plans to increase the share of arable farm land drastically in order to adapt to changes in agricultural production patterns are discussed. Altered boundary conditions brought about by changes in European agricultural policy often necessitate the switch from outdoor dairy production to maintaining the cattle stocks in stables (Nehls 2002). This means that crops with higher energy content have to be fed, which must grow on arable farm land in the vicinity. These kinds of land use change are generally irreversible as arable farm land on Eiderstedt needs to be artificially drained so that the original ponds that are characteristic for the landscape in this region are destroyed during the 198 Link & Schleupner conversion process. According to the local farmers union, two thirds of the agricultural land on Eiderstedt are supposed to be converted to arable farm land within the next couple of decades (NABU 2004). Such a change would not only distinctly alter the appearance of Eiderstedt, but would also mean the loss of valuable bird habitats and possibly a reduction of the recreational attractiveness of the landscape to visitors. This study will look at possible scenarios of land use development on the Eiderstedt peninsula. After a brief historic overview of past agricultural land use changes in this region, the controversy between farmers and environmentalists about the future development of the local agriculture is presented. Using a geographic information system (GIS), scenarios of a future conversion of grassland to arable farm land on Eiderstedt are developed and described. These scenarios can be used in further assessments to quantify the ecological impacts of each development path. 2 Historic development of agricultural land use in Eiderstedt Eiderstedt is a peninsula at the West coast of Schleswig-Holstein that extends into the North Sea. It is located between the river Eider in the South and the town of Husum in the Northeast. Back in the 11th century, Eiderstedt consisted of several geest islands, but started to grow together as a consequence of the first coastal protection measures being erected at that time (Meier 2001). Initially, transportation was only possible by boat as settlements were exclusively accessible from the North Sea. These waterways remained in operation for several centuries and its underlying pattern is still recognizable. Today, almost the entire peninsula is enclosed by dikes built to withstand severe storm floods. This makes it necessary to artificially drain the land area. Parallel passing drills (in German: Grüppen) have been constructed that have become a typical feature of the Eiderstedt landscape (Fischer 1997). Figure 1: Agricultural land use on the Eiderstedt peninsula in 1878, grassland is shown in dark grey and arable farm land in light grey (based on LVermA-SH 2007a) The soil quality of the marshland is quite high (Feddersen 1853; InfoNet Umwelt 2007). In the early 19th century crop production was of great importance on Eiderstedt (Hammerich 1984) and the share of arable farm land was quite high. In some years close to half of the agricultural land was used to grow crops. In the middle of that century cattle farming became the prime means of agricultural production as exports of cattle to the United Kingdom via the harbors of Tönning and Husum were Agricultural land use changes in Eiderstedt: historic developments and future plans 199 very profitable. Consequently, meadows and grassland with ponds and drainage drills running through became the dominant type of agricultural land on Eiderstedt. When detailed maps of Germany were drawn up by the Prussian government in the late 1870s, almost 93 % of the agricultural land consisted of grassland (LVermA-SH 2007a). Arable farm land was hardly found (Fig. 1): crop production took place only in the vicinity of the town of Garding and in the Northeast of Eiderstedt. Figure 2: Distribution of agricultural land on Eiderstedt: grassland and arable farm land (based on Stat A Nord 1950-2004) Figure 3: Agricultural land use on the Eiderstedt peninsula in 2002, grassland is shown in dark grey and arable farm land in light grey (based on LVermA-SH 2007b) During the first half of the 20th century, there were only little changes in the distribution of agricultural land (Hammerich 1984) with the share of grassland always exceeding 80 %. After World War II the dairy production became dominant on Eiderstedt, which led to a further reduction of arable farm land until 1970 (Stat A Nord 1950-2004). Figure 2 shows that arable farm land started to increase 200 Link & Schleupner afterwards, which was mainly due to an expansion of crop production on polders that were secured by dikes in the 1960s. Until 2003 the share of arable farm land remained stable at about one quarter of the total agricultural land. The distribution of the two dominant agricultural land uses in 2002 is illustrated in Figure 3, in which the three bird sanctuaries on Eiderstedt (Westerhever, Poppenbüll, and Kotzenbüll) are particularly marked. Even though crops are grown in all regions of Eiderstedt, there are vast areas of contiguous grassland, particularly in central Eiderstedt (LVermA-SH 2007b). These are of great ornithological significance. In recent years, however, altered political boundary conditions have caused farmers to switch from dairy production with the extensive grassland use to higher intensity cattle farming and biofuels production. As intensive cattle farming involves permanent housing of the cattle, it is essential to grow the high energy forage crops. The increased demand for these crops and for those used in biofuel production necessitates an expansion of the share of arable farm land at the expense of grassland and meadows. 3 The controversy about plans for future land use change Meadows and grassland are habitats with the potentially highest biodiversity in central Europe (Nehls 2002). They are threatened by an intensive agricultural use involving the application of large amounts of fertilizers, the conversion to arable farm land, and dehydration by improving drainage. A conversion of grassland to arable farm land destroys the diverse flora and fauna and cause a deterioration of the quality of the entire ecosystem. The expansion of grassland in other regions to offset the losses is inadequate as newly seeded grassland is ecologically worthless for a long period of time. Consequently, the plan to convert a significant share of the grassland on Eiderstedt to arable farm land is strictly opposed by environmental interest groups led by the NABU. Farmers argue that protection plans proposed by NABU are far too restrictive and do not fare well with the economic necessities of the region. Their interest group Pro-Eiderstedt proposes contractual nature conservation, as conservation measures can only be realized in consent with the local farmers. Many such contracts were established in the late 1980s but their number declined in the 1990s when fundamental enforcement rules changed. In 2001, approximately 1 000 ha of agricultural land were managed by contractual conservation. According to the Ministry of Agriculture in Schleswig-Holstein, that area increased to about 3 000 ha in 2006 (MLUR 2006). Extensively used grassland managed by contractual c