High environmental value (HEV) is the highest level of a generalised scheme for the environmental certification of farms. Farm environmental certification is a voluntary approach which aims to identify and promote particularly environmentally friendly practices applied by farmers and winegrowers. HEV covers four key areas:
biodiversity conservation,
plant protection strategy,
managed fertiliser use,
water resource management.
Farm certification offers a guarantee that the pressure applied to the environment by farming practices (on air, water, soil, climate, biodiversity and landscape) is kept to a minimum.