BirdWatch Ireland has raised concerns that biodiversity measures currently included in Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan do not go far enough to protect Irish farmland birds. This is in light of their dwindling numbers.
Oonagh Duggan, the head of advocacy, notes that 16 of Ireland’s farmland bird species are on the group’s red list – which means they are of “highest conservation concern”.
Duggan commented last week to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine on Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. She highlighted the corn bunting as one species which has disappeared, also stating that the removal of hedgerows must stop to protect farmland bird species.
She called on policy makers to focus on protecting farm wildlife.
Duggan told TDs that Birdwatch Ireland has calculated that “2% to 5% of the €9.8bn Irish CAP budget will be spent on effective measures for biodiversity” and warned that this is very weak.
Welcoming some of the improvements for farmland biodiversity in the plan, which is currently under review by the European Commission, in her view this is “not an emergency response”.
“Much greater support and targeting of actions and funding is needed on all farmland, especially high-nature value farmland and pulling the brakes on the intensification model,” she said.
She called for small wetlands to be added to the space for nature condition (GAEC 8) list of habitats within the plan and said the forestry definition should apply to native woodlands only.
She requested specialist ecological advice and a communications campaign to be deployed to help farmers improve the quality of hedgerows, ponds and wetlands and warned that without this, “the state of nature will not change” on Ireland’s farms.
LSL News.