Flanders Biodiversity Management Agreements — Beheerovereenkomsten (Belgium)

Belgium's Flemish Biodiversity Management Agreements (Dutch: Beheerovereenkomsten, BEA) are a voluntary, results-based agri-environment payment scheme administered by the Vlaamse Landmaatschappij (VLM — Flemish Land Agency) and co-financed under the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Rural Development Programme. Wallonia runs an equivalent scheme through Natagriwal. Together these programmes constitute Belgium's principal public PES instrument for farmland biodiversity, operating in one of Western Europe's most intensively managed agricultural landscapes.
Farmers sign 5-year voluntary contracts committing to specific nature-friendly management practices on eligible agricultural parcels. Eligible types include: botanical grassland management (no herbicides or synthetic fertilisers, delayed mowing for seed set); flower strips and herb-rich field margins (supporting pollinators and farmland birds); riparian buffer strips alongside watercourses (reducing sediment and nutrient run-off); and maintenance of hedgerows, pollard trees, and woodland edges. Payment rates are fixed annually by the Flemish government, reflecting income foregone plus management costs.
In 2025, VLM disbursed €11,052,715 to 2,529 farmers managing 5,948 hectares of Flemish agricultural land under active agreements — approximately €1,858/ha/year. Annual payment notifications are published publicly by VLM. The Flemish Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO) provides independent ecological monitoring through the NARA (Flemish Nature Report) framework, tracking farmland bird indices, pollinator abundance, and botanical diversity across managed parcels.
Flanders experiences some of Europe's highest agricultural intensity and nitrogen deposition, making voluntary conservation contracts critical for maintaining farmland species in a landscape dominated by arable cropping and intensive livestock. The Beheerovereenkomsten scheme has operated continuously since the early 2000s across multiple EU CAP programming periods. Belgium is a new country in this catalogue, illustrating the role of sustained public PES investment in a high-income, densely populated Western European agricultural landscape.

Read the full analysis: https://www.vlm.be/nl/themas/beheerovereenkomsten