Meadows

We are familiar with the polluter pays principle, but what if we paid landowners to protect nature? The Swiss are doing this – and it works. Since the 1990s, farmers have been paid to keep at least 7% of their land as Biodiversity Promotion Areas. Quite simply, they let the land grow naturally into a meadow, with no fertiliser and mowing once a year. Meadows are one of the most biodiverse habitats in the world, so the result is unsurprising: these protected areas contain more diverse species and more species of concern, compared with conventionally grazed, fertilised and mowed farmland.

— Wayne Visser

From Purpose Inspired: Reflections on Conscious Living, Volume 4. Buy on Lulu ↗