Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 December 2022
403. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress that has been made to date in preparing data on the sequestration of carbon by hedgerows to ensure the inclusion of hedgerows in the national inventory; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63106/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn aggregate in Ireland grasslands are a net emitter of CO2, nonetheless, my Department is aware of the significant contribution that on-farm carbon sequestration, particularly through our soils, trees and hedgerows, can make in the continued viability and sustainability of the agri-food sector. Therefore, I believe it is essential that on all on-farm sequestration is accurately reflected in the National Inventory.
To that end, there are several initiatives ongoing at present which aims to reach that objective. Teagasc has recently completed research to improve the national estimation of hedgerow carbon sequestration in an EPA-funded FarmCarbon project in conjunction with FERS Ltd. This research found that increasing hedge width and height can substantially increase both above- and below-ground Carbon sequestration, whilst also providing increased biodiversity.
Within the Teagasc Signpost farms program the soil organic carbon baseline levels are currently being measured across over a 100 Signpost Farms, with these soils being resampled regularly. Teagasc research, using projects such as NASCO and Signpost Farms, aims to improve the measurement of carbon sequestration and focuses on improving estimation of carbon sequestration in hedgerows and on farm woodland.
I am confident that, in addition to the research mentioned above and with improvements being made in hedgerow mapping, that the EPA will, in the near future, have sufficient data to reflect hedgerow carbon sequestration in the National Inventory.
