SOCIO-ECONOMICS Progress report

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SOCIO-ECONOMICSProgress report
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005
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Outline
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005

• Workpackage 1
• Publications ? Common paper
• Tasks ahead

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Workpackage 1
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005

• WP1 Socio-economic appraisal of peat
  exploitation
• Divided into two main parts
• Part1 Assessment of socio-economic importance of
  peat exploitation and alternative peatland uses
  ? Common part of WP1 to compare results between
  the EU countries
• Part 2 Country specific studies analysing in
  more detail certain specific aspects of peatland
  utilisation with different methodologies

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Workpackage 1
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005

• Part 1 Assessment of socio-economic importance
  of peat exploitation and alternative peatland
  uses
• Regional distribution of peatland and
  identification of prevailing types of peat and
  peatland uses
• Policy framework
• Peat production
• Peat trade
• Employment
• Differentiation in raw peat and processed peat
• Alternative peatland uses focussing on
  agriculture and conservation concepts

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Workpackage 1
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005

• Part 2 Country specific studies
• Finland Based on a semi-structured stakeholder
  questionnaire, investigation of three main
  impacts of peat exploitation in Finland
  environmental aspects, employment and re-use of
  peat production areas.
• Switzerland Evaluation of alternative peatland
  uses concentrating on agricultural land uses and
  tourism and peatland management using two case
  study areas, supported by stakeholder interviews
  on their perception of the different activities

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Workpackage 1
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005

• Part 2 Country specific studies
• Scotland Focus on economic evaluation of peat
  extraction differentiating between different
  purposes such as whisky production, local usage
  and peat exports mainly for horticulture.
• France Sociological study of stakeholders
  perceptions of different peatland uses carried
  out in three case study areas.
• Germany Focus on the evaluation of the policy
  framework for peatland management and protection.

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Workpackage 1
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005
Reports

• Finland Work finished and report available.
• France Part 1 finished part 2 on-going report
  available summer 2005
• Germany Work on-going report available summer
  2005
• Scotland Work finished report under revision
• Switzerland Part 1 finished and report
  available part 2a finished and report available
  part 2b on-going report available summer 2005.

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Publications
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005
Common paper (other country specific paper
planned in Finland and Switzerland)

• Background and focus of the paper
• Focus on peatland rehabilitation not on further
  peat extraction
• Peat extraction provides only economic and social
  benefits with high environmental costs
• But results provide overall little evidence of
  economic and social benefits of peat extraction,
  only in Finland some regional importance
• Peatland rehabilitation can provide
  environmental, economic and social benefits

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Publications
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005
Figure 1 Benefits and costs from peatland
utilisation
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Common paper
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005
Aim

• To evaluate opportunities and conflicts for
  peatland utilisation and rehabilitation in
  Finland, France, Germany, Scotland and
  Switzerland.

Sub-objectives

• To analyse potential economic and social benefits
  of different re-use options of exploited
  peatlands and to compare these with the
  socio-economic benefits from peat extraction.
• To discuss the potential environmental
  implications of re-use options and identify
  conflicts for peatland rehabilitation.

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Common paper
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005
Preliminary title and structure
Opportunities and conflicts for peatland
rehabilitation in Europe A socio-economic
comparison of case studies from Finland, France,
Germany, Scotland and Switzerland

1. Introduction
2. Socio-economic importance of peat extraction in
   the country case studies
3. Peat extraction, re-use of peatland and peatland
   protection sustainable utilisation of peatland
4. Socio-economic benefits of different re-use
   options of peatlands in the country case studies
   and their implications for peatland
   rehabilitation
5. Conclusion

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Tasks ahead
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005

• Paper is based on the work already carried out
  but requires some additional work
• In some countries focus has been more on
  implications of peat extraction, hence, more work
  on re-use of peatland is needed
• Link to WP7 Define (recommend) different re-use
  and management options for peatland and their
  socio-economic implications in the country case
  studies

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Some questions
RECIPE meeting, Scheyern, Germany, 17 - 20 May
2005

• Do we (RECIPE) focus on re-use options for
  peatland and their rehabilitation potential
  (instead of opportunities for peat extraction)?
• Does the common paper idea represent the (broad)
  interests of the whole group?
• Future feedback from the whole group
• Implication for possible re-use scenarios and
  their socio-economic implications (WP7)
• information about thresholds beyond which
  rehabilitation is no longer possible
• Future tasks and project resources?