Practical application: Counterfactuals in agri-environment monitoring/evaluation

The project aims to identify counterfactual approaches which enable observed environmental changes to be robustly attributed to the implementation of agri-environment schemes, and to consider the practical application of these approaches for future monitoring and evaluation in Environmental Land Management schemes (ELM). Specific project objectives: 1. Review approaches to counterfactuals within agri-environment monitoring & evaluation, building on the findings of existing studies. 2. Define what constitutes a 'counterfactual' in the context of agri-environment. 3. Assess the feasibility of different counterfactual approaches to agri-environment monitoring & evaluation at the feature/parcel-scale, including the implications of a high uptake of ELM, resulting in few areas not falling under a scheme. 4. Identify the main research gaps and/or where further testing is required to enable robust conclusions to be drawn. 5. Recommend counterfactual approaches for future application in agri-environment monitoring & evaluation at the feature/parcel-scale, with a particular focus on implications for ELM.