What is a "sustainable" agricultural system? I review economists' definitions of sustainability, what rules might promote or guarantee sustainability, and how sustainability can be tested for. I then consider how these ideas apply to individual sectors and ecosystem types; focusing on what we are trying to sustain over time, and the role of maintaining capital compared to technological progress.

Is it better to adopt wildlife-friendly on-farm practices (land sharing), or maximise farm yields and spare other land for conservation (land sparing)? A model, parameterised in Ghana and India, suggests that in both areas, all taxa examined would fare better under land sparing. We will next extend this work to Europe and to exploring ways of incentivising land sparing.

Incentives for biodiversity conservation on farmland arise in Europe mainly through agri-environmental schemes. Using examples it will be shown that the integration of ecological and economic knowledge in models is a suitable approach to design agri-environmental schemes in a way that they are more effective (conservation goals are actually achieved) and cost-effective (conservation goals are maximised for available financial resources).

Farmers provide provisioning ecosystem services  primarily responding to market signals.  They also under-provide regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services because these are subject to market failures.  Farming often degrades biodiversity, and causes water, soil and atmospheric pollution.  The CAP is evolving to incentivise farmers to reduce negative environmental effects and increase provision of public goods.   The policy measures are clumsy.

Declines of farmland biodiversity question the reconciliation between agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Based on a co-viability approach, we evaluated bio-economic risks of public policies through the probability of satisfying biodiversity and economic constraints throughout time. We highlighted a viable kernel of public policies with tolerable agro-ecological risk. The flexibility and multi-criteria viewpoint underlying this approach appear fruitful for adaptive management.

We report results from interviews, behavioural games and a coupled agent-based model of land use change and species metacommunity dynamics. The results suggest that critical thresholds in incentive schemes might exist. The  importance of trust building institutions was also highlighted. It might be challenging for simple economic models to cope with the complexity of real socio-ecosystems. 

Agriculture increases food production, but often at the expense of other ecosystem services. I present empirical and conceptual knowledge, primarily from drylands, of how synergies among ecosystem services can improve food security, overall resilience, and economic benefits for poor communities. Using an "agroecosystem" landscape approach can help identify both synergies and trade-offs among ecosystem services and different beneficiaries.

Biodiversity is important for both the functioning of ecological systems and the generation of ecosystem services. This article explores recent contributions to the economics of agrobiodiversity.  Both theoretical and empirical applications are reviewed and assessed. Of special interest is its relationship to agroecosystem services and resilience.  Future issues are also highlighted.

Conservationists are increasingly using incentive-based approaches to promote biodiversity conservation in multiple use landscapes under weak governance. Using a case study from Cambodia, I reflect upon the factors affecting intervention success, both for biodiversity and wellbeing outcomes, and what lessons might be transferable to improving agricultural sustainability in the UK.

Foresight suggested that sustainability would be best served by aligning environmental and market incentives.  Many ecosystem services such as water capture that farming delivers are effectively free.  Given reluctance to pay for something that is now free, the key to accessing payment for ES is technological improvement that delivers an increase in environmental service without impact on crop production.

This talk will outline some of the choices implied by an agenda of sustainable agricultural (SI) intensification, outlining the trade-offs that define the currently polarised positions on inter alia GM technologies, climate change and meat consumption among a fast-growing global population. The SI debate shows that having it all may not be possible.