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In the 1990s the Swiss agricultural policy was reformed and new environmental objectives were formulated. The aims of the reform were to halt the loss of agro-biodiversity and to enable the spread of endangered species. As a result, the utilised agricultural area (UAA) is now interspersed with low input ecological compensation areas (ECA), making up 13% of the UAA (extensified grassland 90,000ha, traditional orchards 25,000ha, hedgerows 3000ha, other elements 23,000ha). To assess whether ECA contribute to the enhancement of biodiversity, plant composition was recorded on 1914 ECA of the Swiss plateau and 1966 territories of 27 bird species, which typically breed in open and semi-open farmland, were mapped and related to ECA. Eighty-six percent of ECA litter meadows and 50% of ECA hedgerows were of good ecological quality and attracted wetland and hedgerow birds. Most ECA hay meadows …