The co-creation team of the Brittany-Normandy-Pays de la Loire pilot region of TeRRIFICA met for a two-days seminar on the field. The team, composed of researchers in geography, sociology, ecology, but also operational experts, NGOs and professional of agriculture education, gathered around the RESP’HAIES project to co-create knowledge on hedgerows. Through a field trip in Brittany, directly observing hedgerows and sharing knowledge, partners are developing a common language.

Hedgerows – trees and bushes bordering fields – are a traditional farming landscaping emblematic of the Brittany, Normandy, Pays de la Loire region. Hedgerows contribute to mitigating and adapting to climate change, especially important for farming systems. However, hedgerows and trees have been declining since the 1950’s. The pilot region team aim at co-creating knowledge on hedgerows with different perspectives to guide policy-makers, farmers and future farmers and other key stakeholders to better manage hedgerows and increase resilience of farms.

Throughout the field trip in Brittany, farmers hosted the group in their farms and partners[1] exchanged on their knowledge on different hedgerows aspects:

• Geographers from GEOPHEN laboratory of Caen University introduced their research work: on how to manage hedgerows at different scales (farms, small territories and wider territories); on the role of hedgerows on hydraulic phenomenon such as erosion and created tools to manage river basin; and the links between landscapes shaping processes and property circulation of farms.
• Operational experts, farmers and Afac-Agroforesteries association representatives introduced tools that have been or are being developed to manage hedgerows sustainably – the Sustainable management plan of hedgerows and the hedgerow label.
• A session focussed then on eco-systemic services of hedgerows through an introduction on the field of the study “Bocage and biodiversity[2]” and a reflexion on methods to analyse and help decision-making on hedgerows according to their impact on biodiversity.
• During the last session, representatives from AGROOF and the Chambre d’agriculture de Normandy introduced on-going research for methods to know better the performance of hedgerows on farms’ culture but also economical costs and benefits of hedgerows for farmers.

Taking the time to share different expertise but also observing directly on the ground hedgerows allowed high quality exchanges and to continue the development of a common language on hedgerows.

[1] The list of all the RESP’HAIES partners can be found here: https://afac-agroforesteries.fr/resphaies/#

[2] The study was introduced by Jacques Baudry (Inrae), Timothée Scherer (Lannion-Trégor Communauté), David Rolland (Fédération des Chasseurs des Côtes-d’Armor), Marc Moinerais (Loudéac Communauté Bretagne Centre)

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