Italy

Diversifying demand for nature-based solutions

In the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions of Italy, LENs is helping to drive regenerative landscape transformation. With a legacy of intensive land use, supply chains in this area are at severe risk of soil and aquifer degradation. In response, Consorzio Tutela Prosecco DOC and Nestlé Purina have partnered to invest in regenerative agriculture and viticulture techniques, as well as the creation of natural bounded habitats within the landscape.

Preferred by Nature is the LENs operator and the success of the project is built on the strength of the network of local organisations: Agrinnovazione, WBA, CSQA, Agricarbon, Biodistretto di Venezia, CREA.

In the 2025 trade, a portfolio of seven agronomic, four biodiversity, and two innovation measure types were contracted to be implemented across multiple farms, resulting in adoption across 45 cereal farms and vineyards in the regions, to implement 3,008 hectares worth of sustainable agricultural practices.

These aim to help improve soil management and water quality; strengthen the resilience of farms and supply chains; combating environmental degradation; and mitigating the effects of climate change. The measures can be grouped into three main categories:
1. Agronomic measures in the field
2. Promotion of biodiversity
3. Introduction of innovative technologies to improve productivity, reduce costs and decrease environmental impact.

Popular measures include:

Sowing cover crops to improve the quality of groundwater, increase the content of organic matter and maintain soil moisture. This also prevents the soil from being uncovered during the rainy seasons, protecting the soil from erosion.

Soil protection through minimum or no tillage to maintain surface organic matter and preserving good soil structure provides conditions that improve water infiltration rates, reducing the risk of nutrient loss such as nitrogen (leaching) and sediment (erosion).

Plant new hedgerows and woodland, including an innovative agroforestry approach to create and/or strengthen natural habitats to promote biodiversity, capture carbon and provide a range of ecosystem services such as soil and water conservation, maintenance of soil fertility, conservation of edaphic mesofauna and protecting the habitat for plant pollinators.

On farm compost production, using local organic matter/byproducts, including its derivatives such as fermented extracts and compost tea, can improve the soil’s physical chemical characteristics, reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, and reduce the leaching potential and carbon emissions from fertilisation.

Farmers’ investments for innovation that focus on improving sustainability, resilience, productivity, and zero-emissions ambitions, as well as advancing the Regeneration Pathway.

Our Measurement, Reporting and Verification programme, looks at the impact of measures implemented. It supports farmers to collect data, which tracks progress against targets, measures the impact of investments, and provides a clear picture of farms’ sustainability. Read our Impact Report.