Synergies in Agricultural Biodiversity Conservation: Decomposing the Interaction Between Nature Parks and Agri‐Environment Schemes

Understanding how policy instruments with overlapping goals interact is crucial for leveraging their synergies. This study explores the mechanisms for regional nature parks (a form of protected areas that impose no restrictions on agriculture) to enhance the adoption of biodiversity‐conserving agri‐environment schemes (AES) in Switzerland. Using data from Switzerland's 2023 farm census of 41,307 farms and a survey of 1009 farms from 2023, and accounting for regional landscape and socio‐economic characteristics via matching, we find that the adoption of three types of AES for biodiversity conservation is significantly higher within regional nature parks. To unravel the factors contributing to these differences, we conduct a decomposition analysis to parse out the relative importance of factors influencing AES adoption. We find that higher self‐efficacy regarding biodiversity conservation among farmers within parks explains up to 15% of the difference in AES adoption. Additionally, biodiversity goals by cantonal authorities play a key role. These findings suggest that enhancing farmers' perceived control over conservation practices and designing stronger pro‐biodiversity policies at regional levels could boost AES adoption, both within and outside park regions. For regions not designated as parks, agencies such as extension services could take up the role of fostering farmers' self‐efficacy regarding biodiversity‐conserving practices.