Special Areas of Conservation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 31 May 2022

Tuesday, 31 May 2022

Ceisteanna (267)

Pa Daly

Ceist:

267. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if the Wild Atlantic Nature LIFE IP project can be extended to cover Kerry boglands. [28047/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The LIFE programme is the EU's funding instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects. LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature is a large-scale project aimed at conservation and management of Ireland’s Natura 2000 network, with a special focus on blanket bog. This ambitious project, coordinated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department, covers over 250,000ha of ecologically and socially important habitats, stretching along the west coast of Ireland from south Galway to north Donegal. The project works with farmers, local communities, state agencies and others across a broad range of actions spanning sectors including farming, forestry, tourism, community development and scientific.

A key focus in the early-stages of the project is the development and implementation of a locally adapted Results-Based agri-environment Payment Scheme (RBPS) for farmers and landowners operating in blanket bog Special Areas of Conservation nationally. The RBPS  programme, developed in conjunction with project partners the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, directly links payments to farmers with environmental quality, with better environmental quality attracting higher payments. Farmers are also provided with support to improve the ecological condition of their lands, if they so wish.

These activities aim to inform broader policy and practice and the RBPS approach has been incorporated into Ireland's Common Agriculture Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027, where 20,000 farmers will be included in results-based programmes from 2023.  This will include lands in Co. Kerry.

The EU LIFE funding programme operates on the basis of pre-agreed project areas, with a specific remit and budget. At this point in time, while there is not sufficient scope to enable the expansion of the LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature project outside of the west and northwest of Ireland, the learnings of the project will benefit peatlands throughout Ireland. Subject to the success of the pilot RBPS, I intend to further resource the LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature implementation approach to NPWS conservation measures on a wider geographical scale, including the Kerry boglands.