Romania PNDR High Nature Value Meadow Payments — Agri-Environment-Climate Measure 10

Romania holds one of Europe's largest and most biodiverse traditional grassland complexes, particularly in Transylvania, where small-scale farmers have maintained hay meadows for centuries through low-intensity mowing and grazing, supporting hundreds of orchid species, rare butterflies and farmland birds in steep decline elsewhere in Europe.

Under the 2014-2020 National Rural Development Programme (PNDR), Measure 10 'Agri-Environment and Climate' offers compensatory payments to farmers who commit to maintaining traditional high nature value (HNV) grassland management.

Package 1 (HNV meadows) pays EUR 125-500 per hectare per year depending on habitat type and required restrictions, including prohibition of ploughing, restricted fertiliser and pesticide use, and specified mowing windows. The scheme is co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and administered by APIA, with cross-compliance checks and annual on-farm controls.

Between 2015 and 2019, payments reached 212,413 beneficiaries covering a cumulative area of 1,799,820 ha, with annual coverage reaching 548,004 ha and annual disbursements peaking at EUR 76.5 million in 2019. Total Package 1 disbursements over the five years were EUR 231.5 million, representing approximately 51% of Romania's Natura 2000 territory. Academic evaluations confirm higher plant species richness on beneficiary farms and better maintenance of traditional landscape features.

Some studies warn that payment rates may be insufficient to reverse long-term grassland degradation in marginal upland areas. A successor scheme continues under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan.