Discussing the results of the CONSOLE survey
On January 19 of this year, we discussed the results of surveys of landowners and cooperation partners conducted within the framework of the CONSOLE Project - Contracting Solutions for Effective and Long-Term Agri-Environmental and Climate Public Benefits for EU Agriculture and Forestry.
The aim of the event was to validate the results and find out how to motivate landowners to enter into performance-based contracts.
The results of the surveys in Latvia and other countries are similar, but Latvian landowners are less willing to cooperate with other farmers than elsewhere. The seminar participants agreed that in Latvia landowners are motivated by progressive remuneration (the higher the achieved goals, the higher the remuneration), freedom of choice (owners want to determine the ways of achieving the goals themselves). It is also clear that an agreement that provides for renting land at a lower price if the landowner achieves environmental goals is possible to implement, but there is not much interest in it.
Seminar participants believe that interest in the implementation of results-based contracts would be increased by stable funding, the ability to control contract conditions, objective definition of achievable indicators, and support for knowledge enhancement.