Martin Whitby - Böcker

"Countryside Stewardship" is the first cross-country, empirical study to examine the market effects of stewardship policies across Europe, as well as their possible impact on the supply of agricultural commodities. This timely and insightful book examines the economic nature of the agri-environmental measures that were intended to reduce the negative effects of agricultural production on countryside amenities and stimulate the positive contributions of farmers to countryside management. An international team of authors offers a comparative analysis of stewardship policies across eight different European countries, drawing upon a classification of 330 different agri-environmental measures introduced since 1985. The objective of their analysis is to provide policy makers and all those involved - farmers, extension officers, researchers - with more insight into the organisation and effects of these policies and to present some options for a more effective implementation of policies in this new field.

The complex and conflicting demands that society makes on the countryside have led to an increasingly strategic approach to its management. This important new work evaluates the key challenges facing managers and policy-makers in the contemporary British countryside and critically examines a range of strategies for making the most of our natural heritage.

Mention of the British countryside commonly evokes visions of pastoral contentment; but the nature of rural Britain has changed dramatically since 1945. The declining importance of farming as a source of income and employment in the course of this century has undermined the simple identity of the rural economy with the agricultural sector. The social composition of many villages has been transformed by incomers who commute to nearby towns and cities for their work. And EU policy is playing an increasingly important role in both the regulation of the countryside and the promotion of development through structural assistance programmes.The Rural Economy and the British Countryside offers critical perspectives on the changing profile of rural Britain by leading contributors in the field. It considers the meaning of the term 'rural' and what might constitute a sustainable rural economy; present and future patterns of rural development; the role of markets; natural resource management; agricultural pollution; marketing policies in the agricultural sector; environmental valuation techniques; rural policies and politics; and the future of the rural political economy.Written by a team of experts at the Centre for Rural Economy, which took a leading role in the debate surrounding preparation of the 1995 Rural White Paper, the book is ideal for students of rural and environmental policy, countryside management, planning and recreation, rural geography, and agriculture and environmental studies courses.Paul Allanson is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Dundee, specialising in evolutionary economics and structural change in agriculture.Martin Whitby is Professor of Countryside Management at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and is the author of Incentives for Countryside Management: the Case of ESAs and the European Environment and CAP Reform, among other titles.Originally published in 1996

As part of the reform of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in 1992 the European Community adopted a regulation of Accompanying Measures aimed at supporting farmers in conserving the European environment. This book explores the implementation of the Regulation throughout Europe and examines its genesis, delivery and prospects. Individual chapters explore the politics of the regulation and the ecological resources on which it has to work. Eight further chapters examine its implementation in individual member states, highlighting the remarkable diversity both of the ecosystems being conserved and the ways in which the regulation is being implemented. The volume concludes with two speculative chapters, one on the extent and measurement of potential economic benefits from these measures and another offering some broad conclusions on the potential impact of the regulation and its possible evolution. The volume is multidisciplinary, including political scientists, economists, sociologists, geographers and civil servants amongst its authors. The area covered by its country chapters amounts to more than eighty per cent of the European Union of fifteen states.

In recent years landscape and wildlife conservation has attracted increased attention from environmentalists and policy-makers. There have been policies within the European Union aimed at conserving wildlife and landscape in Europe for more than a decade and appraisal of these policies is opportune. A workshop was therefore held at the University of Hohenheim in September 1996 to examine critical issues associated with these policies. This workshop was one of a series, each focusing on a key theme as part of the EU Concerted Action, “Policy measures to control environmental impacts from agriculture”. This book presents a selection of revised papers from this workshop. The overall perspective is an economic one, with several chapters reviewing analytical methods, economic valuation of the benefits of agricultural landscapes and the costs and benefits of wildlife conservation. These are set in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy and environmental policies in the EU. The book represents important reading for agricultural and environmental economists, as well as those concerned with ecology and conservation.

Originally published in 1981, the main thesis of this book is that rural labour markets are at the core of the problem of rural depopulation in development countries. Therefore, the success or failure of policies seeking to moderate the process of population decline is linked to the policy maker’s ability to influence labour markets constructively. Migration in search of work has been a major cause of rural decline, and its reversal to bring about economically viable communities must be related to the availability of employment in rural areas. The authors argue that the emergence of socially viable communities is the highest aim in rural economic policy making. Economic viability is usually a necessary but not a sufficient condition for social survival. This examination of the problems of choosing appropriate policies for rural areas, though written by two applied economists, will also be of interest to geographers, planner and politicians interested or involved in local and central government in the UK, the USA and Australia.

Originally published in 1981, the main thesis of this book is that rural labour markets are at the core of the problem of rural depopulation in development countries. Therefore, the success or failure of policies seeking to moderate the process of population decline is linked to the policy maker’s ability to influence labour markets constructively. Migration in search of work has been a major cause of rural decline, and its reversal to bring about economically viable communities must be related to the availability of employment in rural areas. The authors argue that the emergence of socially viable communities is the highest aim in rural economic policy making. Economic viability is usually a necessary but not a sufficient condition for social survival. This examination of the problems of choosing appropriate policies for rural areas, though written by two applied economists, will also be of interest to geographers, planner and politicians interested or involved in local and central government in the UK, the USA and Australia.

Mention of the British countryside commonly evokes visions of pastoral contentment, but the nature of rural Britain has changed dramatically since 1945. This book offers critical perspectives on the changing profile of rural Britain. It considers the meaning of the term 'rural' and what might constitute a sustainable rural economy.