Compensation payments to farmers for the provision of agri-environmental services are a well-established policy scheme under the EU Common Agricultural Policy. However, in spite of the success in most EU countries in the uptake of the programme by farmers, the impact of the scheme on the long term commitment of farmers to change their practices remains poorly documented. To explore this issue, this paper presents the results of structured field interviews and a quantitative survey in the Walloon Region of Belgium. The main finding of this study is that farmers who have periodic contacts with network bridging organisations that foster cooperation and social learning in the agri-environmental landscapes show a higher commitment to change. This effect is observed both for farmers with high and low concern for biodiversity depletion. Support for network bridging organisations is foreseen under the EU Leader programme and the EU regulation 1306/2013, which could open-up interesting opportunities for enhancing the effectiveness of the current payment scheme for agri-environmental services.

中文翻译：

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欧盟共同农业政策下网络桥梁组织在农业环境服务补偿支付中的作用

向农民提供农业环境服务的补偿付款是欧盟共同农业政策下一项完善的政策计划。然而，尽管大多数欧盟国家在农民接受该计划方面取得了成功，但该计划对农民改变其做法的长期承诺的影响仍然缺乏记录。为了探讨这个问题，本文介绍了在比利时瓦隆地区进行的结构化实地访谈和定量调查的结果。本研究的主要发现是，与促进农业环境景观合作和社会学习的网络桥梁组织定期接触的农民表现出更高的变革承诺。对生物多样性枯竭的高度关注和低关注度的农民都观察到了这种影响。