In May 2023, Adept and Fundación Artemisan organized the workshop “Voluntary labels for nature conservation in private land”, within the scope of the LIFE ENPLC project
The event was held at ELO’s headquarters in Brussels, and a total of 11 participants and speakers took part, including members of the LIFE ENPLC.
The workshop started with the main findings of a review document which aims to identify the “key concepts” of voluntary labels for nature conservation in private land. The document, written by Laura Chirila and Carlos Sánchez, covered questions and answers of voluntary labels. Afterwards, Cécile Merel (from Fondation François Sommer) and Anton Gazeenbeek
(Agriculture, Biodiversity and Climate (ABC), gave examples of voluntary labels on private land in Europe, such as the Wildlife Estates label. All participants spoke and discussed about voluntary labels in their organizations, being clear that this is a “hot topic”.
The meeting was filled with active discussions between participants
From the discussion, the highlights were:
- It is clear that voluntary labelling is an opportunity to increase the value of products and services provided both in private and public land: they can increase the market access, improve reputation and productivity and generate extra income.
- The case studies showed “real world” scenarios in which labelling have been successful, especially in areas of high ecological value, but few opportunity for local inhabitants.
- It is true, however, that only when consumers are ready to pay a “premium prize” that benefits those providing products or services, voluntary labelling makes sense.
In the coming months the document will be finished.
