Professor Jane Stout:

I agree with Dr. Lysaght on farmland challenges. One of the challenges is to protect existing biodiversity, recognise what is valuable from a biodiversity point of view and protect it. An easy start is to focus on non-cultivated areas. There are small actions that can make big impacts for biodiversity without negatively impacting on the farming enterprise.

There are good examples of where farmers have become engaged as custodians of biodiversity, for example, in the Burren programme. The results-based payments for farmers could be an important way to enable them to become custodians of the landscape.