Authors: Szentirmai, István; Czibik, Eszter;Kelemen, Eszter;Megyesi, Boldizsár;Pataki, György;

Several studies revealed that action based agri-environmental schemes are ineffective in preserving biodiversity. Result based payments offer a possible solution by exactly defining the objectives of the subsidy and allowing farmers to choose their own approach to meet them. In the Contracts2.0 project, we started to develop a result based scheme in the Őrség National Park, Hungary with the participation of local stakeholders and experts. Grasslands were chosen as the broader biodiversity target, and then it was narrowed down to species-rich hay meadows. Conservation objectives were identified in terms of species composition and diversity, structural diversity and the availability of nectar sources for pollinators. To measure the results of the management, 21 positive and 8 negative indicator species and two indicators for species composition and 6 for habitat structure were selected. Indicators were tested in the field in 7 selected meadows, partly with the participation of the farmer. Our preliminary results show that (i) plants are more reliable indicators than butterflies, (ii) farmers are willing and capable to measure indicators and (iii) the values of most indicators are in correlation with plant and butterfly species richness measured by more intensive methods in the same fields.