Written answers

Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Gorse Burning

Photo of Marc Ó CathasaighMarc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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279. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the options available to upland farmers, other than burning, to manage older growth heather; the resources and support available to farmers from his Department for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10916/23]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Every year, the Department publishes the various scheme Terms and Conditions to support farmers and their advisers in submitting their claims under the area-based payment schemes operated by the Department.

The 2023 Terms and Conditions for the EU Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area based schemes sets out the requirements for maintaining land so that it can be deemed eligible to receive payments. Land must be maintained, but an applicant is free to determine the most appropriate means of maintenance for their own lands, taking account of the local conditions that exist on their holding.

In terms of upland areas that may have older growth heather, these areas of strong heather will not lead to a reduction in the eligible area for payment once there is an appropriate activity on the land parcel in question.

In terms of alternative options for the management of uplands, these have been explored as part of various European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) Projects and the main findings suggest that management is determined by the baseline conditions, site targets and conservation priorities so a site specific response is necessary.

Other than controlled burning, selecting appropriate grazing levels including type of stock, number, timing and areas to be grazed were considered primarily as a first option, or alternatively mechanical or hand cutting with brush cutters were considered.

The EIPs also identified the need for farmers to have an idea of their potential habitat scores and what the uplands could look like when balancing biodiversity and agronomic activity, hence the need for training and awareness so that farmers can understand the targets for the habitats and the measures required to achieve them. Relevant training programmes, including site visits were essential to building the capacities of farmers to manage the upland challenges.

Learnings from these EIP projects have informed the development of ACRES, our new flagship €1.5bn agri-environmental scheme, and the approaches within it. Under the ACRES Co-operation Project it is planned that results based payments will be in place which incentivise quality of habitat outputs. My Department is liaising closely with the National Parks and Wildlife Service regarding the development of appropriate scorecards for these areas. Furthermore the ACRES Co-operation Project teams are developing local action plans and associated investments and landscape actions to complement the delivery of conservation objectives, while at the same time supporting the farmers who deliver these outputs.

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