Farmers central to protecting heritage
Chief executive Michael Starrett said there was an urgent need to take a more coordinated approach to managing the countryside.
“Ireland lags far behind most European countries in the approach it takes towards managing our countryside and we will need to take serious steps to safeguard and protect it,” he said.
The council wants to see a considerable change of emphasis so that agri-environmental payments go to the farmers that contribute most to heritage management.
It has advised the Government that the new REPS4 scheme should offer new mechanisms and measures that would reward and give additional incentives to farmers for the role they play in protecting Ireland’s heritage. New measures that will restore and manage habitats for endangered wildlife and plant species, protect and conserve archaeological monuments and traditional farm buildings and offer new recreational and tourism features in the countryside should be included, he said.
“Over the past decade, we have seen a very significant decline in farming and, at the same time, our national heritage has come under increasing threat. Similarly, issues of access to the countryside are more prevalent.”
