The SULAPS research project examined the interlinkage between agriculture and landscape in the Swiss mountain area. Individual farm optimisation was calculated by means of an economic agrarian structure model under the given framework conditions. The results of the study show that in the areas of Surses and Belfort about one fifth of the farms will be abandoned within the next ten years. These results are not dependent on any scenarios. A decisive factor for the development of the mountain landscape is how the direct payments are being defined. If the direct payments would be lowered, farmed space would recede drastically, and a strong trend towards working on a sideline basis would develop. The number of farm workers would decline even more drastically. If direct payments stay the same, the decline would be 25%, by changes of the system up to 35%. The SULAPS project (2002-2005) was conducted within the National Research Programme NRP48 (Landscapes and Habitats of the Alps, www.nfp48.ch, a programme of the Swiss National Science Foundation. The project team consisted of the two partners FAT and INFRAS (see also www.fat.ch/sulaps).
Project team
