Landscape features such as hedges, solitary trees and extensive grassland play an important role in maintaining biodiversity and providing ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. The intensification of agriculture often leads to the removal of these elements in order to increase production efficiency. Agricultural policies can play a crucial role in promoting the conservation of these important environmental features. The aim of this master's thesis was to investigate and evaluate the presence of landscape features at farm level, farmers' attitudes towards them and the policy measures taken to conserve them in the Dravsko-Ptujsko and Središko Polje region in Slovenia. A total of 244 farmers cultivating land in the study area were interviewed at three locations. The results showed that few landscape features are currently present, with many farmers stating that they plan to remove some of them in the next five years. The most common reasons for removing landscape features were a desire to increase acreage and yield, to improve farm efficiency and to carry out land consolidation. Retention of wooded landscape features was more likely on larger farms and when farmers recognised their benefit to agricultural production. The results indicate that economic interests still dominate decision-making, which emphasises the need to raise awareness of the productive value of landscape features and to provide appropriate support measures tailored to the needs of individual farms.
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