A €5m pilot Farm Environmental Study (FES) has been announced by Government that will include habitat surveys on around 6,500 farms.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), the pilot scheme will generate a database of baseline farm habitat and biodiversity.
Launched by the Minister of Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue and the Minister of State for land use and biodiversity, Pippa Hackett, the new data collected will help farmers be more aware of the biodiversity potential on their lands.
Minister McConalogue commented on the study: “We are living in the middle of a biodiversity crisis, and will agriculture being the largest land use in our country, establishing a database of the biodiversity features and habitats present at farm level must be a priority.”
The Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) will coordinate the rollout of the survey effort.
Mr McConalogue said he believes the project will be the launch pad for a whole new and untapped potential for Irish agriculture.
“Having a baseline knowledge of the biodiversity resources we have on our farms is essential going forward,” he added.
“In order to tackle the challenges of the future, we first must know the potential of the present and the FES is central to this new era we are facing into.”
LSL News.