Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 December 2021
210. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the supports available for rewilding and wilding of land; and the current level of take-up for these supports in tabular form. [59177/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are a number of definitions of rewilding. The Department of Agriculture Food & the Marine (DAFM) focus is biodiversity in agriculture and all projects/initiatives that promote this along with food production will be encouraged and supported.
This Department has played a key role in relation to restoring and conserving biodiversity rich ecosystems. Some of these objectives have been achieved through the Life programmes (co-ordinated by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in conjunction with DAFM) – which provide funding for the support of Environment, Nature Conservation and Climate Action projects throughout the EU.
For example -The Life Wild Atlantic nature programme aims to protect and restore Ireland’s blanket bog natura network along the Atlantic seaboard and enhance the ecosystem services they provide including carbon storage and biodiversity.
Similarly, the European Innovation partnerships (EIPs) which are funded by this Department include locally led projects like the Hen Harrier Project and the Pearl Mussel Project which reward farmers for managing their land in a way that is sensitive to the habitat present in order to provide space for nature at the landscape scale through results based payments schemes.
Looking forward, Ireland also supports the new EU biodiversity strategy 2030 and will be developing agri-environmental climate measures to meet the increasing policy ambition for the post 2020 Common Agricultural Policy. Measures for biodiversity protection are improving all the time as we strive to meet national and international targets.
