Preaching to the Unconverted: The Human Benefits of Ecoligical Intensification

Abstract

Although ecological intensification methods have some demonstrable benefits to production and the potential to enhance long-term sustainability, farmers still face an uncertain trade-off by implementing them over more conventional farming methods. Measuring and demonstrating the benefits of ecological intensification has therefore often been suggested as a means of highlighting these benefits to farmers and policymakers. To date however, studies measuring these benefits have been largely illustrative, rather than demonstrative, and focused on short term impacts rather than long-term benefits, such as sustainability, resilience or consistency of crop yields. Furthermore, studies have tended to over-emphasise economic benefits to the point of using economic valuation to try to measure more abstract public benefits such as improved aesthetic and cultural values, if they have even measured them at all. However, many often very simple methods are available to measure the full suite of benefits from ecological intensification in a manner that is useful for decision making by both farmers and other stakeholders. In this talk we highlight the different valuation tools available to researchers and how they can be integrated into ecological research to provide information relevant to management and policy.