The Curlew Conservation Programme involves locally based teams of advisors, community engagement and nest protection officers, working closely with landowners and other local interests, to protect Curlew nesting attempts and to improve habitat quality. The programme places the landowner and the birds at the centre of all considerations, with key goals of giving the Curlews a better chance of rearing chicks and stopping the population sliding further towards extinction.
The programme is funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine.
In 2021, the Curlew Conservation Programme focused on nine of the most important areas in Ireland for breeding Curlew, including the Stack’s Mountains in Kerry, Lough Ree, Roscommon/Mayo, Leitrim, North Monaghan, Donegal, Lough Corrib, Slieve Aughties and Laois/Kildare. In each of these areas, local teams surveyed for Curlew, engaged in nest protection efforts and liaised with landowners. Funding was made available for landowners and communities to engage in efforts on the programme, including habitat improvement works.
The Burren Programme has its origins in the BurrenLIFE Project (2005-2009), the findings of which became the foundations for the Burren Farming for Conservation Programme (BFCP), which started up in 2010.
The collaborative AranLIFE project saw the effective implementation of a results-based approach that pays farmers for the quality of the species-rich grassland that they deliver, resulting in increased biodiversity value of over 1,000ha of priority Natura 2000 habitat (EU-protected areas).
The project developed a targeted grazing plan to support stock and maintain the quality of priority grassland.
The project also identified seasonal limitations with forage quality and developed customised diet supplements for livestock to improve their health, welfare and value while grazing on the species-rich vegetation.
This project is impactful because of increased commitment in the EU to results-based approaches in Pillar 1 and 2 of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The effectiveness of the project was recognised through securing funding (€1.45 million) for a follow-up European Innovation Partnership (EIP) project, Caomhnú Árann.
An agri-environmental initiative that operated between 2014 and 2020.
KerryLIFE was co-funded by the EU’s LIFE Programme; Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht; Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine; Coillte; Teagasc; and the South Kerry Development Partnership.
The project covered two river systems which are home to almost half of Ireland’s population of freshwater pearl mussels – the Blackwater and Caragh River Catchments, in the Iveragh Peninsula, Co. Kerry.
KerryLIFE invested in on-farm works to enhance and protect water quality in the two catchments. Farmers fenced off river courses, installed drinking troughs and allowed nature to flourish.
For many, it was “counter-intuitive”, but working with the KerryLIFE team and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), they blocked drains in order to prevent sediment washing into the rivers.
Techniques to restructure forests were also trialed across 220ha of public and private land in the catchments.
The NPWS Farm Plan Scheme was launched in 2006. To date over 800 NPWS Farm Plans have been approved and these plans have been instrumental in designing national agri-environment schemes which have been taken forward on a larger scale, for example in the Rural Development Programme.
The NPWS Farm Plan Terms and Conditions Document was updated in 2020 and can be accessed here:
One of the main objectives of the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme is to trial novel approaches to farming for the environment, to safeguard particular sites, habitats and species, and to work towards meeting conservation measures required under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. Examples of such approaches can be accessed here
The NPWS Farm Plan Scheme will apply in Target Areas. These are areas that fall into the following categories:
-High Nature Value Farmland -Natura 2000 sites (SAC and SPA sites) -Natural Heritage Areas -Specific areas/sites with species and habitats listed under the Annexes of the EU Birds – Directive (2009/147/EC) and EU Habitats and Species Directive (92/43/EEC)
A steering group shall decide on priority actions for the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme from year to year, identifying specific needs, as well as gaps in applied conservation action and knowledge
The NPWS Farm Plan Scheme shall be administered by the Agri-Ecology Unit of the NPWS with the support of other pillars of NPWS, including Science & Biodiversity Unit, Site Designations Unit, Ecological Assessment Unit, GIS Unit and Regional Staff. The Scheme shall be available to landowners both within and outside of Natura 2000 sites, but focused on strategic needs including Ireland’s requirements under the Birds and Habitats Directives.
NPWS Farm Plan Scheme contracts are typically of 5 years duration
Breakdown of the number of current NPWS farm plans by county.
The RBAPS project was a three and a half year project in Ireland and Spain working with farmers and stakeholders developing ways to reward farmers for delivering biodiversity on their lands.
The key element of results-based method of delivering payments is that the amount of money paid to the farmer, reflects the quality of wildlife (biodiversity) that is delivered on their farmed land.
Result-based agri-environment payment schemes (RBAPS) award payments to farmers on the basis of the quality of the desired environmental outcome that is delivered. This contrasts with the standard ‘prescription-based’ model, where payments are awarded for complying with certain conditions, whether prohibitions or mandatory actions. For example, in a prescription-based agri-environment scheme (AES), a species-rich grassland option might specify certain grazing &/or mowing dates, livestock pressure, fertiliser and herbicide use, with the same payment made irrespective of the subsequent ecological quality of the grassland.
With result-based schemes, the habitat condition is scored (e.g. on a scale of 1-10), with the highest payment awarded to the best quality habitat. Assessments are based on objective assessment criteria (indicators), which are chosen to reflect the overall biodiversity and ecological integrity of the habitat while also responding to agricultural management practices. This method is based on the Burren model developed with farmers, farming representatives and ecologists (Parr et al. 2010).
Result-based schemes may involve payments awarded solely on results achieved or may be a blended model with payments for ‘non-productive investments’ which support the delivery of biodiversity (e.g. removal of scrub encroaching on species-rich grassland; or creating a chick feeding area on important wading bird habitat); and can be complemented by some prescriptive elements where necessary.
By linking payments to assessment criteria (which indicate the quality of the biodiversity) RBAPS make it financially beneficial for participating farmers to gain an understanding of the conditions needed for delivery of the biodiversity. This creates a new market for biodiversity; where those farmers who better deliver market requirements can be better rewarded.
For species-rich grasslands, in both Leitrim or the callows flood meadows, farmers are not required to carry out any specific actions (although they can choose to, if they want to improve the condition of their fields) and there are no prescriptive management requirements; farming is left to the farmer! Instead we are developing scoring systems where each field is given marks out of 10 based on the environmental condition of the field and the higher the marks the higher the payment for the field.
For breeding waders, on the Shannon callows, wet grazed fields are scored on the basis of their suitability for the breeding wader birds that nest on the callows in the summer. These birds require the right height grass for building nests and suitable wet, muddy areas for the chicks to feed. Advice will be given to farmers on how best to achieve the best conditions (and highest payment) for the breeding birds while also continuing their farming practices.
This project is funded by the European Commission with co-funding by project partners and with support from The Heritage Council, Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Wild Atlantic Nature LIFE IP, a 9-year EU-funded LIFE Integrated Project, works with farmers, local communities and land owners to add value to the wide range of services provided from our Special Area of Conservation (SAC) network of blanket bogs and associated areas.
These peatlands provide clean drinking water, store carbon, support biodiversity, produce high quality food and support resilient rural economies and livelihoods through farming, tourism, recreation and other activities. As part of the project, a pilot voluntary Results Based Payment Scheme (RBPS) will be linked to the quality of the habitat, thereby putting landowners and their skills, expertise and knowledge of their land central to the development of this project.
The project, coordinated by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, will focus on 24 blanket bog project sites in counties Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo and Galway.
As well as working closely with farmers and local communities, the project brings together the experience and knowledge of associated partners including the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, RTÉ, Coillte, Fáilte Ireland, The Heritage Council, Bord na Móna, Teagasc, Northern & Western Regional Assembly, and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
