Mr. Pádraic Fogarty:

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for the opportunity to address the committee members today. The Irish Wildlife Trust, IWT, is a non-governmental charitable organisation which was founded in 1979 with the goal of raising awareness of the importance of our natural heritage. We have approximately 3,000 members. We have been vocal in our concerns regarding changes to the Wildlife Act, via the Heritage Bill, and in particular with respect to proposed changes to permitted dates for hedge cutting and burning of vegetation. Both of these initiatives are potentially destructive to wildlife, but for very different reasons, and therefore need to be debated as entirely separate issues.

First, I will deal with hedge cutting. The reasons changes to the permitted hedge cutting dates are needed remain a mystery. It certainly cannot be for reasons of health and safety since that is already clearly provided for under section 40 of the Wildlife Act. The IWT has no objections to hedge cutting at any time of the year for genuine reasons of health and safety. That is paramount to any other consideration. Most of our partner organisations are in agreement with that. If health and safety were a genuine concern, surely it would need to be addressed at any date and would not be resolved by extending the hedge cutting season into August only. The IWT does not believe that health and safety are the motivations behind the proposed change, but we do not have theories as to what are. Many of the farmers to whom we have spoken in recent years have said that it is perfectly possible to manage hedges within the six months that are allocated at present. To change the law for unknown motivations cannot be a good idea under any circumstances, but in this instance the consequences would be devastating for wildlife.

The importance of hedgerows cannot be overstated as they are the last refuge of wildlife across much of the Irish countryside. With the ongoing intensification of agriculture, the patchwork of fields in lowland Ireland is no longer home to wild plants, insects or birds. That means wildlife now depends more than ever on hedgerows, and the shelter, flowers and berries that they provide. In August, many birds are still nesting while even birds which have successfully reared young at that stage, along with all the other hedgerow wildlife, are stocking up for the winter ahead. The hedgerows are not only nesting places but larders which are essential in the cycle of survival. Allowing hedge cutting during this crucial month would therefore make survival more difficult for all the hedge's wildlife.

With our climate changing, and the pressures wildlife is under elsewhere, we should, if anything, be seeking to extend the prohibited hedge-cutting season into September to give flora and fauna an additional boost. It is for this reason that we are opposed to the proposed changes in the Heritage Bill. As a footnote, we appreciate that hedgerows need to be maintained and managed because they are man-made and farming habitats. Surveys that have been carried out show that many of our hedgerows are in poor condition. This should be addressed.

By contrast with proposals on hedge-cutting, we can see the motivation behind the proposal to allow an extension of the hill burning season. Upland farmers, who have lived and worked in the affected areas for generations see their livelihoods in decline and understandably feel that urgent action is needed. For a variety of reasons, however, burning land is not the answer to these issues. The IWT has monitored what is now an annual season for wild fires across in nearly all counties of Ireland. In 2017, we recorded 97 illegal fires in 19 counties. Combined with plantation forestry, these fires have eradicated nature in our uplands. This is not an exaggeration. According to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, all of our habitats in upland areas are in bad condition while all of the birds synonymous with hills are threatened with extinction. They include the curlew, meadow pipit, golden eagle, twite, golden plover, ring ouzel, skylark, nightjar, hen harrier and red grouse. All the ecological, landscape and tourist value is lost in wildfire circumstances.

Our records from 2017 show that the fire season begins in late March and carries on until the middle of May. This is entirely due to the prevailing weather so extending the permitted season into March is unlikely to provide suitable conditions for so-called “controlled” burning. This type of burning is carried out in the UK to encourage unnatural densities of red grouse for game, and has nothing to do with sheep farming. Furthermore, studies from the University of Leeds have shown that controlled burning is associated with loss of habitat and biodiversity, pollution of water courses, reduced soil fertility and loss of carbon in a habitat which should be a large storage bank for carbon and therefore helping to mitigate against climate change. It is a type of land management which is known to exacerbate downstream flooding as water absorption capacity in the peat is lost.

The IWT has proposed solutions to upland restoration that accommodate wildlife and traditional farming but with no requirement for burning land. These include replacing sheep with cattle, planting upland native woodlands, including conversion of existing Sitka spruce plantations to native forests, agro-forestry, which combines trees with grazing of domestic animals, or paying landowners to allow vegetation to simply go wild. This makes sense when the land is valued for the common good, for example, in providing drinkable water, alleviating floods, and enhancing tourist and amenity value. Foremost in our priorities is the removal of the requirement for vegetation to be at "grazable height" in order to qualify for the basic payment scheme. Overnight, this measure would remove a significant driver for wild fires and is something we strongly feel needs to be urgently addressed. To this end, we have lodged a complaint with the European Commission. I have copies to hand and have supplied copies to the clerk for those who want one. The document details all the wildfires we logged this year, the reasons we complained to the Commission and the solutions we would like to see implemented. If we all want uplands that have people and wildlife that provide a range of benefits to every person in this county, we need to provide these options for farmers. Extending the burning date to the end of March, we believe, will do nothing for anybody.

The IWT has worked with our partners in BirdWatch Ireland, An Taisce and the Hedge Laying Association of Ireland in highlighting the damaging effects the proposed changes to the heritage legislation will have on our already beleaguered wildlife. Over 30,000 people have signed a petition opposing the move and we hope the changes I have discussed today are not adopted. I thank the committee once again for hearing my submission today.