Cyprus's National Agri-Environment-Climate & Natura 2000 Payments Scheme

Cyprus's Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, put 36,742 hectares of agricultural land under agri-environment-climate contracts targeting biodiversity preservation, improved water management and soil-erosion prevention, according to the European Commission's official RDP factsheet for Cyprus. The programme also compensates farmers and forest owners working within Cyprus's Natura 2000 network of 63 marine and terrestrial sites covering 1,789 square kilometres, where EU nature-protection rules restrict some agricultural and forestry practices.

The 2014-2020 programme was backed by EUR132,214,377 in European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development co-financing at a 53% match rate, bringing total public expenditure to EUR243,310,145, according to Cyprus's national funding-programmes portal. The scheme continues under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, approved by the European Commission in December 2022.

Publicly available sources describe the scheme's budget and the area enrolled but do not provide farm-level participation counts or independent ecological outcome evaluations, so this practice is evidenced mainly at the level of financial and area commitments rather than measured environmental results.

Read the full analysis: https://www.fundingprogrammesportal.gov.cy/en/programs/agriculture-development/