Councils want to do without biodiversity promotion areas on fields
Published: Tuesday, Jun 11th 2024, 13:21
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Farmers in Switzerland should not have to create additional biodiversity promotion areas on their fields. This is what Parliament is demanding. The introduction of the measure was previously postponed twice.
The plan was that farms with more than three hectares of open arable land in the valley and hill zones would have to designate at least 3.5 percent of the arable land in these zones as biodiversity promotion areas (BFF). The measure should have been in force by now, but has already been postponed twice.
And now it is to be dropped for good. On Tuesday, the Council of States adopted a corresponding motion from the National Council by 25 votes to 16 with two abstentions. The majority of its Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation (WAK-S) found the biodiversity promotion areas to be too controversial and "not ready for introduction".
The 3.5 percent BFF was decided in spring 2022 with regulations intended to reduce the risk associated with the use of pesticides.
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