The Role of Organic Farming in Landscape Conservation[Le rôle de l'agriculture biologique dans la conservation des paysages]

Hedgerows support biodiversity, soil protection, and ecosystem resilience, yet their density in France has declined sharply in recent decades. This study investigates whether organic farming promotes hedgerow conservation, using georeferenced farm data from 2015 to 2022 and detailed hedgerow inventories. We estimate cross-sectional and TWFE models to identify the causal effect of organic conversion on hedgerow density. Relative to farms that remained conventional, those that converted to organic farming increased hedgerow density by approximately 0.95 meters per hectare. Moreover, converting farms rapidly converged on the hedgerow level of farms that were organic throughout the period, suggesting early adoption of conservation-oriented practices during transition. The positive effect of organic conversion is concentrated in cereal farms, while no significant changes are observed in vineyards or orchards, probably reflecting differences in yield penalties and reliance on ecosystem services across crop types. Policy simulations indicate that targeting hedgerow subsidies on organic and converting farms could more than double the impact per euro spent, reducing the budget needed to meet national restoration goals by up to 60 percent.