Significant advances have occurred in recent years in Europe and in North America in addressing agri-environmental policies. Land use issues tend to be more pressing in Europe than in the US as a whole because of different spatial exigencies.

Because these advances have taken place within individual academic disciplines, there has been something of a loss of synergy and often efforts are duplicated. While important institutional and legal differences still exist between the two continents, the sharing of recent scientific advances will benefit scientists on both sides of the Atlantic and this is the main purpose of this book.

The authors aim to identify options for policy to overcome the challenges ahead, synthesize existing knowledge, and identify gaps in current knowledge. This is aided by the adoption of a properly comparative approach.