Result-based payments for “Flowering Meadows” in France : Support tools and collective learning process

The shift from management prescriptions to result-oriented schemes in France emerged from the largely unpredicted success of collaboration between a team of scientists from INRA and Natural regional Parks that started in 2005 in the Northern Alps. I’m a cofounder and promoter of the Flowering Meadows programme that I will present from a social sciences standpoint, focusing on what makes change happen and why it was well received by farmers. I will thus concentrate on the hidden work which played a crucial role in the success of the French scheme. Finally, I will show how the approach is evolving and point out the key factors and obstacles to effective RBPs. Let’s start with a brief outline of existing RBPs in France. The first set of result-based measures aimed at maintaining the species richness of natural grasslands has been introduced in France in 2007. I have to mention the GRASS_09, or “Pastoral management plan”, that aims at achieving specific features of the mosaic of vegetation strata by grazing herds. However, the agreements currently implemented are mostly action-based and hardly promotes a step-by-step adaptation of management specifications to achieve the desired outcome. The desired ecological outcome of the flagship measure -GRASS_07, commonly known as “Flowering Meadows”, was modelled after the MEKA measure presented by Rainer Oppermann so I won’t go into details. Unlike Germany, the list must be specific to local conditions