Corncrake survival agreement
Prescriptions for farming practice and payments on 6,000 ha of designated land in counties Longford, Roscommon, Westmeath, Galway, Offaly and North Tipperary are outlined in the agreement. Annual payments of €450/ha on corncrake meadowland and €325/ha on species-rich wet grassland will be made. Up to 700 farms will benefit from applying the prescriptions. The main farming restrictions involve delayed cutting, centre cut mowing, grazing restrictions and leaving field margins of up to 2.5m.
Environment Minister Dick Roche, who launched the scheme in Birr, Co Offaly, said it will help the survival of the species-rich grasslands of the Callows, particularly the corncrake, an endangered bird species.
The Callows has by far the largest area of lowland semi-natural grassland and associated aquatic habitats in Ireland. It has two legally protected species of plants and many scarce species. It also has four habitats requiring special protection under European law.
Mr Roche said that in winter the Callows are internationally important for numbers and species of waterfowl. In spring they feed large numbers of birds on migration and in summer they hold a significant population of the endangered corncrake, as well as a very wide variety of more common grassland and wetland birds.
“Some years ago, it became very evident that, not least if we are to meet our obligations under the EU birds directive, that we must do everything in our power to ensure the corncrake’s survival,” he said.
Mr Roche, who praised the key negotiators, the IFA, BirdWatch Ireland and the NPWS, said the story of the corncrake’s call can hopefully live again through implementation of the agreement for this and future generations in rural Ireland.
IFA president Padraig Walshe said the agreement is a major step in recognising the farmer’s key role in designated special areas of conservation and special protected sites countrywide.
“For too long, farmers have been short-changed with severe farming restrictions imposed, and no recognition that farming must be allowed continue in these environmentally-designated areas,” he said.
IFA Connacht vice-president Michael Silke, who led the IFA negotiators, said the agreement is a positive signal to farmers in the area of their key role in protecting the environment and their income.
