Glossary:Agri-environmental indicator (AEI)

From Statistics Explained

A set of 28 agri-environmental indicators, sometimes abbreviated as AEI, has been proposed for monitoring the integration of environmental concerns into the Common agricultural policy (CAP). In the context of the 'Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy', these indicators serve to:

• provide information on the farmed environment;
• track the impact of agriculture on the environment;
• assess the impact of agricultural and environmental policies on environmental management of farms;
• inform agricultural and environmental policy decisions;
• illustrate agri-environmental relationships to the broader public.

Analytical framework: DPSIR model

Domain	Sub-domain	Nr	Title
Responses	Public policy	1	Agri-environmental commitments
		2	Agricultural areas under Natura 2000
	Technology and skills	3	Farmers’ training level and use of environmental farm advisory services
	Market signals and attitudes	4	Area under organic farming
Driving forces	Input use	5	Mineral fertiliser consumption
		6	Consumption of pesticides
		7	Irrigation
		8	Energy use
	Land use	9	Land use change
		10.1	Cropping patterns
		10.2	Livestock patterns
	Farm management	11.1	Soil cover
		11.2	Tillage practices
		11.3	Manure storage
	Trends	12	Intensification/extensification
		13	Specialisation
		14	Risk of land abandonment
Pressures and risks	Pollution	15	Gross nitrogen balance
		16	Risk of pollution by phosphorus
		17	Pesticide risk
		18	Ammonia emissions
		19	Greenhouse gas emissions
	Resource depletion	20	Water abstraction
		21	Soil erosion
		22	Genetic diversity
	Benefits	23	High Nature Value farmland
		24	Renewable energy production
State/Impact	Biodiversity and habitats	25	Population trends of farmland birds
	Natural resources	26	Soil quality
		27.1	Water quality - Nitrate pollution
		27.2	Water quality - Pesticide pollution
	Landscape	28	Landscape - state and diversity

Further information

• Farmers training level - ESMS metadata file (aei_fm_ft_esms) - Agri-environmental indicator 3

Related concepts

• Common agricultural policy (CAP)
• Sustainable development indicator (SDI)

Statistical data

• Agri-environmental statistics