The aim of this work is to analyse how livestock farmers evaluate biodiversity conservation in relation to agriculture, how they assess the future development of agriculture in Natura 2000 sites and whether they are willing to include conservation measures in the management of their farms. In the first part, we analysed the state of agriculture in the Ljubljansko barje Landscape Park using spatially linked data from the records of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food and survey data from 232 farmers. The area is dominated by small farms with a relatively high average age of farm owners. A fifth of respondents estimate that they will either downsize or abandon their farms in the next ten years, suggesting that structural change in the area could accelerate over the next ten years. In the second part of the study, we carried out a qualitative analysis based on the theoretical concept of the 'good farmer',” conducting 19 semi-structured in-depth interviews with farm owners. We found that farmers generally support the establishment of the Landscape Park and the conservation objectives in the Natura 2000 site, but at the same time point out numerous challenges. Conflicts stem mainly from legal constraints, increased bureaucracy and insufficient institutional support, but are also exacerbated to a lesser extent by farmers' disagreement with findings on the negative role of agriculture in biodiversity loss.
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