Bridging Agriculture and Insect Conservation: Farmer Motivations, Barriers, and the Intermediary Role of German Biosphere Reserves

Biodiversity conservation schemes in collaboration with agriculture have been criticized in part for their limited ecological effectiveness. In this regard, biosphere reserves are internationally recognized as playing a model role in developing sustainable land use systems. To learn about farmers’ perspectives on insects, the role of biosphere reserves in their farm management, and their experiences with biodiversity measures, we interviewed farmers in the German biosphere reserves (BRs) Schaalsee, Schorfheide-Chorin, Middle Elbe, Bavarian Rhön and Black Forest, thereby drawing on the model function of these reserves for insect conservation. Their perceptions were then assessed by BR staff and insect conservation managers. Juxtaposing the views of farmers and insect conservation stakeholders provides comparative insights from multiple perspectives. Interviewed farmers perceived BR staff as holding substantial regional knowledge, which gives them a reputation as competent intermediaries between biodiversity conservation and agriculture. Although the economic incentives to change farm management are perceived as low, most farmers can be engaged in biodiversity conservation through their intrinsic motivations. Farmers were clustered into four motivational patterns that require targeted communication. Across motivational patterns, farmers identified administrative burdens, farm-level costs, and the limited reliability and flexibility of existing measures as major barriers. To better conserve insects and promote insect conservation measures among farmers, extension services are needed. BR staff and insect conservation managers agreed on most of the farmers’ needs identified through the interviews. Therefore, BR administrations may play a crucial role in insect conservation as they recognize the contribution of agriculture and can engage additional stakeholders beyond the sector. To establish insect conservation in BRs in the long term, regional extension staff for nature conservation and regional support schemes are most needed to provide site-specific, regionally adapted conservation measures.