The European Forum for Nature Conservation and Pastoralism (EFNCP) is organising a conference on 'High Nature Value (HNV) farming - State of play, stakes and prospects' in France on 8 October, with the support of French Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment.

This conference (to be held in French) is aimed at national participants involved in the field of nature conservation and agriculture: civil servants, farmers, NGOs, researchers.

The aim of the event, beyond meeting formal evaluation commitments under the Rural Development Regulation (RDR) - for example, 'biodiversity' is one of the 'new challenges' included in the EAFRD regulation - is to initiate a debate in France on how the concept of HNV farming can contribute to meeting objectives concerning biodiversity at large scale, in the perspective of CAP beyond 2013.

A copy of the draft agenda is available here. A background document (in French) can be obtained here. Further information is available on the EFNCP website.