Support and financial aid for hedge management
The management and planting of hedges can benefit from technical support and various financial aids, essential elements to ensure their success and sustainability.
Sources of financial aid and subsidies
Several levels of financial aid are available to support projects related to hedges:
Various subsidies
- Funding can come from European, national, regional, departmental or intercommunal/municipal sources, as well as foundations and private companies.
Subsidy rates
- Planting projects can benefit from subsidies up to 70% in non-disadvantaged areas and 80% in favored areas.
Examples of departmental aids
Specific programs
- Agri-Environmental Schemes (AES): These programs pay farmers for their agroecological practices, such as maintaining landscape infrastructures (hedges, woodland edges, wet meadows), soil cover, and reducing phytosanitary products.
- Case of Jérôme Collin (Corrèze) : His commitment to the Adour-Garonne AES brings him between €7,500 and €7,800 per year, covering the costs incurred.
- Case of Jean-Louis Nogues (Côtes-d'Armor) : By participating in the Rance Fresnaye AES, he received over €22,000 some years, allowing him to finance his hoeing services and purchase equipment such as an electric pruner.
- Private funds and partnerships: Romary Courtois benefited from €1,500 aid from the Yves Rocher Foundation in 2019 and plans to finance her next project with the AFTER Fund of the French Agroforestry Association (AFA), at €12.25 excluding tax per tree.
- Restoration programs: Initiatives like Breizh bocage or RECONNECT (led by the Vallée de la Rance – Côte d’Emeraude Regional Natural Park) actively support hedge replanting. "Children and trees": This program offers technical and financial support for planting projects over 100 linear meters, including the purchase of plants, protections, and sometimes soil preparation.
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
- The CAP includes provisions for farmers regarding the removal and maintenance of hedges. Linear planting can be a way to retain CAP area-based aids, and scattered forest trees may be eligible under certain conditions.
Technical support and advice
Technical support is often crucial for the success of hedge planting and maintenance projects:
Town halls
- It is advisable to contact the town hall before any planting project to learn about specific local rules (urban planning, development).
Specialized local structures
- Support is possible through entities dedicated to agroforestry or biodiversity.
Chambers of Agriculture
- They play a key role in preparing subsidy applications and offer technical support, notably for applying the Hedge Label or AES programs.
Economic and Environmental Interest Groups (GIEE)
- GIEEs, such as "The place of the tree within market gardening systems," develop technical sheets and decision trees to guide farmers in managing and valorisation of their hedges.
Specialized associations
- The French Agroforestry Association (AFA) offers technical support and training.
Documentary resources
- The technical sheets provided in the sources are detailed guides on species selection, soil preparation, planting techniques, maintenance, and protection of young plants.
Experience sharing
- Experienced farmers, like Romary Courtois and Jean-Louis Nogues, emphasize the importance of being supported by a technician and willingly share their feedback with peers.
Conditions and considerations
- Selection criteria: Aids are often subject to strict selection criteria, and not all projects are systematically accepted.
- Performance obligations : Subsidies imply a commitment and performance obligations, often accompanied by regular controls. Supporting documents (photos, invoices, records) may be required.
- Ratchet effect : Some AES may apply a "ratchet effect," requiring maintenance or improvement of practices from one year to the next, although adjustments are possible in case of exceptional weather conditions.
- Non-cumulative : Generally, aids under an AES cannot be combined with other schemes.
- Planter’s responsibility: Subsidies rarely cover the entire cost. A financial contribution from the farmer is often encouraged to motivate long-term care of their plantations.
Technical support and financial aids for hedge planting play a decisive role in the success of agroecological projects. Technical assistance helps guide choices based on pedoclimatic specificities, agronomic objectives, and farm constraints, limiting design or implementation errors. Financial aids facilitate action by reducing the initial investment cost, which is an important lever for establishing more resilient and sustainable agricultural systems.
Source
Technical sheets from the GIEE « The place of the tree within market gardening systems », designed to support market gardeners in the maintenance, planting, and valorisation of bocage hedges.
