Expected changes in the application of the exemption for the creation of ecologically important areas from 2021

One of the requirements for the greening payment of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) direct payments is the creation of ecologically significant areas. This means that farmers whose arable land area on their farm is more than 15 hectares must ensure the creation of ecologically significant areas in an area corresponding to at least 51% of arable land. In Latvia, ecologically significant areas are field edges, tree and shrub clumps, land with large trees, large stones and alleys, fallow land, nitrogen-fixing crops, mixed catch crops or grassland.

In EU Member States where forest covers more than 50% of land area, the regulation allows for exemption from the creation of ecological focus areas for farms located in certain areas. The areas concerned must meet three criteria: they must be designated as areas with natural constraints, more than 50% of their land area must be forest and the ratio of forest land to agricultural land must be greater than 3:1.

Latvia is one of the four Member States where the exemption from the establishment of ecological focus areas has been applied since 2015 and the areas are defined at the level of rural municipalities. Currently, the exemption applies to farms located in 87 rural municipalities. The list of these rural municipalities is included in Annex 11 to the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 126 of 10 March 2015 “Procedure for granting direct payments to farmers”.

EU regulation requires that the areas where farms are exempted must be reviewed at least every three years. Therefore, in order to continue to apply this exemption in 2021, recalculations have been made using the latest available data on the total area of parishes, forest area and agricultural land area in Latvia.

The exemption from the establishment of ecological focus areas will apply from 2021 to farms located in 85 parishes, including In Jaunjelgava parish, where the exemption is not currently applied. In turn, in three parishes – In Bērzaune, Drabeši and Kalna parishes – the exemption will no longer apply because the proportion of forest has decreased or the area of agricultural land has increased, as a result of which the 3:1 criterion for the ratio of forest land to agricultural land is not met.

The new list of parishes will be approved by amending Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 126 of 10 March 2015 “Procedures for Granting Direct Payments to Farmers”.

Parishes whose farms will be eligible for exemption from the creation of ecologically important areas from 2021

* – with the administrative-territorial reform, referring to the Law on Administrative Territories and Settlements, which entered into force on June 23, 2020, these regions become parishes.

Parishes whose farms will be exempted from establishing ecologically important areas from 2021

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Information prepared by:

Rūta Rudzīte, public relations specialist

Phone: +371 67027498

Email: ruta.rudzite@zm.gov.lv

Website: www.zm.gov.lv