DOMESTIC ANIMAL BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION GIOVANNI SIGNORELLO GIUSEPPE CUCUZZA and GIOACCHINO PAPPALARDO UNIVERSITY OF CATANIA

DOMESTIC ANIMAL BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THIS PAPER WE EXAMINE THE CONTENT OF FARM ANIMAL BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION MEASURES IMPLEMENTATED IN EUROPEAN UNION IN APPLICATION OF EU REGULATION 1257/99 UNDER THE FRAMEWORK OF AGENDA THE RATIONAL FOR THE STUDY IS TO OFFER SOME RESPONSE INDICATORS PERTINENT TO LIVESTOCK BIODIVERSITY. TO PURSUE THIS OBJECTIVE, WE SURVEYED 69 RURAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS (RDPs) SET UP IN EACH OF EU MEMBER’S STATE.

THE ANALYSIS FOCUSED ON SIX LIVESTOCK MAMMALIAN SPECIES: ASSES, CATTLE, GOATS, HORSES, PIGS and SHEEP. THE STARTING POINT FOR OUR INVESTIGATION WAS THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS DIVERSITY-INFORMATION SYSTEM (DAD-IS) FAO. WE COMPARED BREEDS INCLUDED IN THE DAD-IS FAO DATABASE WITH BREEDS ENTERED IN THE VARIOUS RDPs. THIS COMPARISON ALLOWED US TO IDENTIFY PRIORITIES IN CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN EACH COUNTRY

DOMESTIC ANIMAL BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION STATE INDICATOR The main widely reported state indicator pertinent to livestock biodiversity is the list provided by FAO through the program “DOMESTIC ANIMALS DIVERSITY– INFORMATION SYSTEM” (DAD-IS). DAD-IS monitors worldwide breeds and classifies them in seven risk categories:  EXTINCT: indicates a breed where it is no longer possible to recreate the breed population.  CRITICAL: a breed where the total number of breeding females is less than 100 or the total number of breeding males is less than or equal to five.  ENDANGERED: a breed where the total number of breeding females is between 100 and 1000 or the total number of breeding males is less than or equal to 20 and greater than five.  CRITICAL - MAINTAINED and ENDANGERED - MAINTAINED: categories where critical or endangered breeds are being maintained by an active public conservation programme.  NOT A RISK: a breed where the total number of breeding females and males is greater than 1000 and 20 respectively.  UNKNOWN: a breed where no data are available.

DOMESTIC ANIMAL BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION THE EUROPEAN UNION PURSUES THE CBD RECCOMENDATIONS (RIO DE JANEIRO, 1992) BY EU REGULATION 1257/99 AND 445/02 IN THE FRAMEWORK OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS (RDPs). In this paper we examined sixty-nine RURAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS set up in EU Member State. THE ANALYSIS FOCUSED ON SIX LIVESTOCK MAMMALIAN SPECIES: 1) ASSES 2) CATTLE 3) GOATS 4) HORSES 5) PIGS 6) SHEEP The starting point for investigation was the DOMESTIC ANIMALS DIVERSITY – INFORMATION SYSTEM (DAD-IS) FAO database. WE COMPARED BREEDS INCLUDED IN THE DAD-IS FAO DATABASE WITH BREEDS ENTERED IN THE VARIOUS RDPs.

LIVESTOCK BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION RESPONSE INDICATOR IN OUR ANALYSIS WE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ONLY BREEDS INCLUDED IN THE CRITICAL, ENDANGERED, CRITICAL–MAINTAINED AND ENDANGERED– MAINTAINED CATEGORIES, AND BREEDS INCLUDED IN THE NOT-AT-RISK CATEGORY BUT WITH A POPULATION SHOWING A DECREASING TREND. IN THE EUROPEAN UNION THE TOTAL NUMBER OF LOCAL BREEDS AT RISK OF EXTINCTION IS 773 : CRITICAL CATEGORY: 172 breeds ENDANGERED CATEGORY: 302 breeds CRITICAL – MAINTAINED: 39 breeds ENDANGERED – MAINTAINED: 105 breeds IT IS WORTHWHILE TO NOTE THAT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION THERE ARE CURRENTLY AT LEAST 155 LOCAL BREEDS NOT A RISK OF EXTINCTION BUT WITH A DECREASING TREND IN POPULATION SIZE.

IN TERMS OF SPECIES THE NUMBERS OF BREEDS AT RISK BELONGS TO: SHEEP: 223HORSES: 200CATTLE: 190 PIG: 79GOATS: 69ASSES: 12

LIVESTOCK BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION THE ANNUAL PAYMENTS TO FARMERS WHO RAISE LOCAL BREEDS FOR A 5 YEAR PERIOD, ARE EXPRESSED IN EURO PER LIVESTOCK UNIT (LU). DETAILED ANALYSIS OF FULL DATABASE REVEALS THAT THE PAYMENTS IN EVERY RDP, GENERALLY, DISREGARD THE RISK STATUS OF BREEDS. THE ONLY ECONOMIC GROUND WE FOUND IS THE COMPARISON, IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, BETWEEN A LOCAL BREED VERSUS A MORE PRODUCTIVE BREED.

SICILIAN BREEDS AT RISK OF EXTINCTION

LIVESTOCK BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION Economic figures point out that: 1) THE LEVEL OF PAYMENT IS IRRESPECTIVE OF SPECIES; 2) FARMING LOCAL BREEDS INVOLVE CONSIDERABLE LOSS IN SPITE OF PAYMENT TO FARMERS; 3) THERE IS NOT ANY REFERENCE TO OTHER CRITERIA MENTIONED IN EU REGULATION 1257/99 (INCOME FOREGONE, COSTS INCURRED AND NECESSARY INCENTIVE); 4) THE PAYMENTS DO NOT ALLOW TO REACH THE MAXIMUM STOCKING LU PER HECTARE (IN APPLICATION OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE)

LIVESTOCK BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION IN ORDER TO ASSES THE TOTAL COST OF LIVESTOCK BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PROGRAM OF RDPs, WE ESTIMATED: 1) THE PUBLIC EXPENDITURE NECESSARY TO ENSURE THE MAINTENANCE OF CURRENT POPULATION SIZE OF BREEDS AT RISK. VALUES ARE OBTAINED BY MULTIPLYING THE CURRENT POPULATION SIZE OF EACH BREED, AS LISTED IN THE FAO DAD-IS, BY THE SPECIFIC ANNUAL PAYMENT. 2) THE PUBLIC EXPENDITURE NECESSARY TO ENSURE THE UPGRADE OF BREEDS FROM THE AT-RISK STATUS TO THE NOT-AT-RISK STATUS. THIS EXPENDITURE ONLY REFERS TO BREEDS WHICH CURRENT POPULATION SIZE IS LOWER THAN THE THRESHOLD LEVEL INDICATED BY FAO. VALUES ARE ESTIMATED BY MULTIPLYING THE SPECIFIC ANNUAL PAYMENT BY 1022 (THIS NUMBER CORRESPONDS TO THE THRESHOLD LEVEL REQUIRED BY DAD-IS FAO TO CONSIDER A BREED NOT A RISK).

CONCLUDING REMARKS AT THE MOMENT THE RDPs ARE THE MAIN TOOL TO IMPLEMENT MEASURES IN FAVOR OF LIVESTOCK BIODIVERSITY PROGRAMS IN THE EU. OUR ANALYSIS POINT OUT THAT: 1) BREEDS INCLUDED IN THE RDPs ARE CONSTANTLY LOWER THAN BREEDS LISTED BY FAO; 2) PAYMENTS TO FARMERS GENERALLY DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE DIFFERENT PROBABILITY RISK OF EXTINCTION OF BREEDS; 3) THE PAYMENTS ARE IRRESPECTIVE OF SPECIES; 4) PAYMENTS DO NOT OFFER ADEQUATE INCENTIVES EITHER TO MAINTAIN THE CURRENT POPULATION OF AT RISK BREEDS OR TO INDUCE FARMERS TO SWITCH FROM HIGHER PRODUCTIVE BREEDS TO LOCAL BREEDS REARING.

THIS GENERAL PICTURE SEEMS TO INDICATE THE ABSENCE OF A GENERAL STRATEGY FOR DECISION MAKING. FIRST OF ALL IN A CONTEXT OF LIMITED BUDGETS, IT SHOULD IDENTIFY USEFUL OPERATIVE CRITERIA FOR SETTING PRIORITIES IN CONSERVATION DECISION AND DIFFERENTIATE ECONOMIC SUPPORT. IT SHOULD TRY TO INCREASE THE ECONOMIC PROFITABILITY OF LOCAL BREEDS FARMING. THIS ADJUSTEMENTS COULD BE REACHED IN SEVERAL WAYS: - THE MOST OBVIOUS IMMEDIATE WAY IS TO GIVE HIGHER PAYMENT WITH RESPECT OF OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS (E.G. SOIL CONSERVATION). - ANOTHER ROUTE IS TO PRODUCE CONSISTENT COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICIES. (FOR ISTANCE, IT SHOULD BE SUITABLE TO HAVE POLICIES PROVIDING SUPPORT TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OR FOODSTUFFS WHICH HAVE AN IDENTIFIABLE RELATIONSHIP WITH LOCAL BREEDS.