Rural Development Programming: Expereinces from Ireland Dr. Alex Copland

Transcription

1 Rural Development Programming: Expereinces from Ireland Dr. Alex Copland

2 A background to rural Europe Widespread loss of biodiversity Loss of threatened habitats Pressures on water quality and quantity Loss of ecosystem functioning AND struggling rural areas

3 Where is Ireland coming from? Farmland Bird Declines: - 9/19 BoCCI Red-listed species - Range at least halved since 1970s Loss of threatened habitats: - Grasslands unfavourable bad - Peatlands unfavourable - bad Viability of rural communities - Changing farm structures - Rural depopulation

4 Overview of farming in Ireland Pastoral (livestock) dominate 92% under grass (grazing and mown) 7.9% crops (of which 79% cereals) Agricultural structures (2013) Average farm size 32.5ha Average field size 2.5ha (variable) Winter Wheat yield 10.3 t/ha (2017)

5 Overview of Ireland's RDP Budget of c. 4 billion( 2.19 bn from EU) Agri-environment ( 1.53bn): GLAS (c. 1.12bn) Beef Data Genomic Programme ( 281m) Burren scheme ( 12.9m) Areas of Natural Constraint ( 1.37bn) Non-productive Investments ( 425m) LEADER ( 250m) Knowledge Transfer ( 134m) Co-operation ( 62m) Organics ( 56m) Traditional buildings ( 6m)

6 Some more detail Green Low-Carbon Agri-environmental Scheme National agri-environment scheme Prioritised entry according to Environmental Assets Suite of targeted (mandatory) and general (optional) measures Payment maximum of 5,000 (or 7,000) per applicant The Burren Programme Cooperation EIPs and locally-led schemes

7 Summary of GLAS actions Opened 2015 Three tranches Revision and targets refined between tranches Action Minimum Maximum Completion deadline Payment Rate Planting New Hedgerow 10m 200m 31 st March /m/y Arable grass margin 3 metre width * 0.35/m/yr All tillage crops harvested 4 metre width * in /m/yr 6 metre width * 0.70/m/yr Bat Box 3 boxes 15 boxes 31 st March /box/yr Bird Box 1 box 15 boxes 31 st March /box/yr Conservation of Solitary Bees (Boxes) 1 box 5 boxes 31 st March /box/yr Conservation of Solitary Bees (Sand) 1 habitat 2 habitats 31 st March /habitat/yr Breeding Waders * 366/ha/yr Chough * 365/ha/yr Corncrake * 364/ha/yr Geese and Swans * 205/ha/yr Grey Partridge 200m * 31 st May /m/yr Hen Harrier * 370/ha/yr Twite A * 375/ha/yr Twite B 50m * 31 st May /m/yr Twite C 0.25ha 3ha 31 st May /ha/yr Commonages Management Plan * 120/ha/yr Farmland Habitat (Private Natura) * 79/ha/yr Coppicing of Hedgerows 10m 1,000m 28 th February /m/yr Environmental Management of Fallow Land 0.25ha 3 ha 31 st May /ha/yr Catch Crop 10 ha (Priority Area) / 4 ha (General Action) 30 ha 15 th September /ha/yr Laying of Hedgerows 10m 1,000m 28 th February /m/yr Low Emission Slurry Spreading * 1.20/mᶟ/yr Low Input Permanent Pasture / Traditional Hay Meadow Minimum Tillage Protection and Maintenance of Monuments Tillage Grassland 3 metre width 6 metre width 10 metre width 30 metre width 10 ha (Priority Area) / 4 ha (General Action) 10 ha * 1 st crop establishment following approval 314/ha/yr and 315/ha/yr 40/ha/yr st May /unit/yr th February /unit/yr * 31 st December /m/yr 0.15 LU 10 LU 200/unit/yr * 31 st March /m/yr * 31 st March /m/yr * 31 st March /m/yr * 31 st March /m/yr 0.05ha / 250 whips 0.09 ha / 450 whips 31 st March /whip/yr 10m 4,000m 0.70/m/yr 0.05ha /10 trees 0.05ha /10 trees 31 st March /unit/yr 0.25ha (General Action) 1.0ha (Priority Action) 3 ha 31 st May /ha/yr

8 Scale of GLAS actions Highlights: Wild Bird Cover 4 th largest arable crop! 82,164ha priority bird habitats under (good) management Action Scale Cost Bird Boxes 203, m Bat Boxes 209, m Wild Bird Cover 19,037 ha 25.8m Breeding waders 1,277 ha 0.60m Curlew 4,551 ha 1.52m Chough 12,338 ha 5.10m Corncrake 214 ha 0.10m Geese/Swans 16,083 ha 4.58m Grey Partridge km 0.39m Hen Harrier 44,103 ha 24.0m Twite 3,738 ha 2.00m Planting hedges 1,201km 10.8m Low-input pasture 262,479 ha 132m Hay meadows 61,620 ha 28.2m

9 So, is the Irish RDP any good for biodiversity? Potentially, but that are pit-falls Advisory input acknowledged deficit in areas such as biodiversity needs to be enhanced Monitoring limited to CMEF and 1.4m evaluation project (ongoing) needs measureby-measure refinement Link to non-productive investments Results-based options Continue to consult and engage

10 Thank You!