Germany case study

This chapter presents three German case studies: Landcare associations, co-operation in drinking water protection, and wetland restoration in the Eider Valley. Landcare associations are regional non-profit associations where farmers, local administrations, politicians and nature conservation experts work together with the aim to implement nature conservation and landcare measures. Co-operation between farmers, water suppliers and technical advisers in Lower Saxony is helping to solve maintenance problems and restoring high water quality. The wetland restoration project aims to restore wetlands in the Eider Valley by extensifying agricultural land use and deconstructing drainage systems, based on co-operative institutional organisations. Following a brief description of the case studies, the agri-environmental public goods provided by collective action, the roles of participants, the factors affecting collective action and the policy measures in support of collective action are discussed.