Vol. 482 No. 2
32 Mr. U. Burke asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if she will make a statement on the success or otherwise of the scheme to save the corncrake; the estimated number of such birds recorded in 1997; and the further proposals, if any, she has for the future of the scheme. [17338/97]
The corncrake grants scheme, operated by the Irish Wildbird Conservancy, is jointly funded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department. Since 1992 this scheme has received State funding through the NPWS amounting to £269,000, including a grant of £64,000 in the current year. The Irish Wildbird Conservancy has advised that a total of 148 singing males were recorded in 1997, a reduction of some 20 per cent on the number, 184, recorded in 1996, and a reduction of almost 15 per cent on the number, 174, recorded in 1995. The figures are disappointing and do not adequately reflect the resources and commitment to the scheme of the project partners — the NPWS, the RSPB and the Irish Wildbird Conservancy.
While the corncrake grants scheme has proved to be a valuable interim conservation scheme for the corncrake, the project partners have agreed that the future strategy for corncrake conservation will be based largely on SAC compensation measures operated through the rural environment protection scheme, managed by the Department of Agriculture and Food, and by my own Department. Under these measures and subject to EU approval, participating landowners can attract grants of up to £77 per acre for up to 100 acres, with lower rates thereafter, for farming in an environmentally-friendly way. Discussions are well advanced with conservationists, farmers' representatives, the Department of Agriculture and Food and farm planners under the REP scheme, to agree an appropriate prescription for corncrake-friendly farming. The measures principally relate to dates of closing of meadows, dates of cutting hay and silage and mowing from the centre out. Further discussions are planned between the corncrake conservation scheme partners to monitor progress and to adopt a detailed strategy for corncrake conservation in 1998. This, together with the purchase and lease back of corncrake habitat by the NPWS for management in a corncrake-friendly way, will provide a solid conservation strategy for the corncrake in Ireland and reflects the deep commitment of all parties to the conservation of this important species.
