Burren Farming for Conservation Programme

“Burren Life”

Sharon Parr, BFCP

1. The Burren & farming 2. Agri-environmental Schemes & Natura 2000 farmland 3. Evolution & principles of the BFCP 4. Impacts & benefits

The Burren

Pastoral landscape: 720 km2, natural & semi-natural habitats, improved agricultural grassland

Orchid-rich grasslands & heaths*

Limestone pavements* Wetlands*

Atlantic hazel woods

Almost half is designated Special Area of Conservation (c. 340 km2)

Designations do not manage the Burren’s farmland biodiversity

… need farmers to do that!

Summer fertile agricultural grasslands

Traditional winter grazing - ‘Winterage’

Winter ‘winterage’

Natura 2000

Winter grazing, the key to maintaining the Burren’s biodiversity

Intensification -Feeding Winterages undergrazed, occasionally abandoned

Despite SAC designation – habitats deteriorating

Change in focus, loss of balance The problem?

Obvious solution – agri-environmental scheme

An agri-environmental scheme STILL the obvious solution

How to develop one that would work?

1995 REPS … but it didn’t manage the biodiversity either!

• Farmers thought it:

Rigid & inflexible - “Calendar farming”

Fairly meaningless

About penalties

But liked the money! Important income.

Why not?

• ‘One size fits all’ national scheme

Options & measures incapable of delivering good habitat management

• Introduced a ‘Burren measure’

protection against perceived negative impacts of farming

Talking, Listening & Learning

Identify the problems, explore solutions

1. AES: drawn up by people divorced from the ‘issues’

2. Conservation agencies & farmers: conflict and lack of trust

3. Farmers: seen as the problem, not the solution

PhD. The impact of Agricultural Practices on the Natural Heritage of the Burren Brendan Dunford

The farmer’s view and expertise

BurrenLIFE Project (2005-2010)

Partners

National Parks & Wildlife Service

Teagasc

Burren Irish Farmers Association

…develop practical farm management

systems to benefit the environment, the

habitats and the farmers of the Burren

Talking, Listening & Learning

Research & Monitoring: the bigger picture

Agricultural, Ecological, Environmental & Socio-economic

Main Outcomes:

Further identification of problems and possible solutions

Recommended management practices, with costs & guidelines

Built strong working partnerships

Garnered trust & support of the farming community

Proven impact > improvement in condition of grazed habitats

But: Funding the work to address problems did not always result in improved grazing levels …. there was still something missing!

Payment for Actions (work) Payment for Results

The Burren Farming for Conservation Programme

A ‘Hybrid’ Agri-environmental Scheme

Farmer led … • Told what’s wanted • Farmer decides own management strategy & nominates actions • Support & training provided • Can opt out of actions – only paid for work done

Workshop

Principles for developing a (more) successful agri-environmental scheme

1. Targeted to the needs of a particular area (avoiding ‘one size fits all’)

2. Ground up & local in development and delivery (avoiding ‘outside experts telling us what to do’)

3. Flexible & focussed on outputs / results rather than methods (avoiding ‘calendar farming’, allowing diversity of enterprise)

4. Focus on supporting positive farming activities rather than on limiting negative ones (putting pride back into farming, avoiding accusations of ‘farmers dole’)

5. Activities must make sense to the farmers (more than just money)

6. Delivering real results NOT ease of auditing

Impacts & Benefits of the BFCP

Positive Impact on Landscape

89km broken walls repaired 450 new gates, 111 Burren gates

214ha of encroaching scrub removed

Local Socio-Economic Benefits

Input into local economy (2010-2014)

160 participating farmers shared €4.935m.

Average BFCP income in Year 5 = €6.5K

Average total payment per farm over 5 yrs. = €32,600

Money circulates:

Contractors – database of 80 local workers

Agricultural suppliers

Local industry e.g. Burren gates

Landscape cared for – bedrock of local tourism

-8,00%

-6,00%

-4,00%

-2,00%

0,00%

2,00%

4,00%

6,00%

8,00%

10,00%

12,00%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Ch

an

ge

Score

Change in 'Health' Scores 2010 to 2014 Higher the score, the better the condition

Impact on habitat condition

Advantages of the BFCP approach

For: Farmers Freedom to farm Incentives & support (carrot not stick) Taxpayers Value for money (€69/ha) Poor performance, poor payment Funders Proven impact via simple monitoring system Biodiversity Becomes of ‘value’ to farmers

The BFCP as a catalyst

LIFE Nature Projects:

AranLIFE, KerryLIFE

Ireland’s RDP 2015-2020:

€70m for locally targeted schemes

BFCP set to expand

Results-based Pilots:

RBAPS Leitrim - HNV farmland

Shannon Callows – breeding waders

Navarra – vines

European Diploma for Protected Areas:

A first for Ireland

Impact on Local Pride

Farmers are proud of their role & achievements

Increased knowledge of both natural & cultural heritage

Partners in conservation, not the scape-goats

Being paid for a product not a ‘hand-out’