Area of Land Under Improved Management

hectares of land managed using environmentally sustainable practices

The indicator assesses the total area of land (including forests, pastures, fields, etc.) that are managed using environmentally beneficial practices, such as the application of organic inputs, use of minimum tillage, planting of cover crops, use of bylaws / regulations and other environmentally sustainable and economically viable practices.

Determine the indicator's value by using the following methodology:

 

1) Define what criteria need to be met in order for a piece of land to be considered as being ‘managed using environmentally sustainable practices’. This can include, for example, the use of specific sustainable farming practices, effective use of by-laws / regulations, etc.

 

2) Assess the size of land under sustainable management by:

   - using existing monitoring data (e.g. on the size of pastures managed by agreed by-laws)

   - conducting interviews with a representative sample of farmers, assessing whether they are following the promoted agronomic practices (see guidance) and if so, on how large an area

 

3) To calculate the indicator’s value, work out the sum total of all the pieces of land that meet the criteria defined in point 1.

 

Disaggregate the data by the type of land and the key practices used.

1) A slightly amended version of the indicator can also be used for other eco-systems, such as coastal mangroves.