Webinar: ‘Foodscapes’ – nature and agriculture aligned in producing, and then marketing food: Case studies from Sweden & Argentina

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The Eurosite-ELCN Agriculture, Biodiversity and Climate Working Group invites you to a webinar:

‘Foodscapes’ – nature and agriculture aligned in producing, and then marketing food: Case studies from Sweden & Argentina

When: 07 June 2024 from 15:00-16:30 CET

Where: Online

The two presentations will be followed by Q & A and debate – notably, what kind of project or concrete action can we develop around this theme?

The first speaker, Anna Jamieson from Naturbeteskott, Sweden, will explain how her organisation manages the “Certified Pasture Beef“ label, for farmers whose cattle graze biodiversity-rich permanent pastures, keeping them in good ecological condition. She will explain:

• what farmers joining the label must commit to do
• how, by whom it is checked that farmers obey the criteria
• who certifies the meat before marketing
• how farmers are remunerated
• who sells the meat to consumers

The label works: the volume of certified pasture beef sold in Sweden has grown steadily and consumer interest has stayed high, in spite of inflation, recession. The amount produced is currently smaller than demand. Hence Naturbeteskott is canvassing more farmers to join the label.

The second speaker, Javier Beltran from The Nature Conservancy-Argentina, will give a perspective from a non-European context. His country, Argentina, has modern and commercial agriculture and is a major food producer, exporting large quantities to Europe. Javier will explain how a broad civil-society partnership, funded by public and corporate donors, is working closely with farmers, agribusiness and communities in the Gran Chaco region, the second largest forest biome in the world, after the Amazon. This is a biodiversity hotspot full of iconic wildlife, but also highly productive land – a foodscape – with a growing large-scale agricultural export sector, mainly beef and soy.

He will present the partnership’s work, which is pursuing:

• to promote regenerative, climate-resilient cropping, ranching practices
• to delineate incentive mechanisms to farms to preserve key habitats, restore degraded land and create ecological refuges or corridors
• to elaborate techniques to enhance freshwater quality and quantity

The partnership is also seeking to facilitate farmers who take up such actions to get market access and reward. Javier will focus especially on the impact of EU trade legislation, such as the Deforestation Regulation, upon local producers, and how mechanisms for adaptation (i.e., improved management and voluntary protection) are gradually emerging across the landscape.