Four European Innovation Partnership projects to be extended until 2023
The Curlew Conservation EIP aims to offer farmers training in new skills such as predator control and habitat management to stabilise, and in the longer term, it hopes to increase the number of breeding pairs of Curlews identified in the two focus areas. File photo
Four of Ireland's European Innovation Partnership (EIP) projects have had their funding extended for another year.
The extra funding means the groups, which include Duncannon Blue Flag, Caomhnú Arann, The Conservation of Breeding Curlew in Ireland, and MacGillycuddy Reeks, will be able to continue their agri-environmental work until the start of the next CAP Strategic Plan in 2023.
Making the announcement of a further €1.57m to support the work of the groups, Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett, said: “A lot of important work has been done in these EIP groups with much success, for example, in restoring habitats and biodiversity enhancements.
"Considerable advances have been made in enabling farmers work together to overcome local issues within their environment.
"I believe that it is important to ensure the continuity of that significant work until the new CAP period begins in January 2023. Many of the lessons from these EIPs are being incorporated into our CAP schemes now that they have been successfully piloted on the ground."
EIPs are locally-led environmental schemes involving a range of stakeholders such as farmers, scientists and NGOs acting collaboratively for a common goal.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine currently backs 55 EIP-Agri projects working on a wide range of issues including biodiversity, water, soil, peatlands, farmer health and farm safety.
Four groups have been awarded further funding to carry on with their project work until the end of 2022, including:
The Conservation of Breeding Curlew in Ireland was the biggest beneficiary, securing €648,284.
The Curlew Conservation EIP aims to offer farmers training in new skills such as predator control and habitat management to stabilise, and in the longer term, it hopes to increase the number of breeding pairs of Curlews identified in the two focus areas.
The empowerment of farmers to see their role in the community as a protector and promoter of biodiversity and their ability to supplement their income is another key outcome for the project.
The Duncannon Blue Flag EIP will receive €171,197 as a result of the latest announcement.
The project aims to sustainably restore, protect and enhance the quality of the bathing and riverine waters at Duncannon by reducing pollution from rural agricultural and domestic sources whilst also protecting farm incomes.
The Caomhnú Árann EIP will benefit from an extra €427,560. The project works with 127 farmers on the three islands off the west coast of Ireland, addressing some of the issues affecting the condition of the species-rich grassland habitats.
It aims to use grazing as part of conservation measures as inadequate grazing has lead to the encroachment of scrub and an overall reduction in biodiversity on the islands.
Caomhnú Árann is trialling the use of remote sensing, aerial photos, and drone footage using standard photography and multispectral imaging, to see if such technology can help in determining different levels of grassland condition, and incorporating that into a simple outcome-based scoring system that could be used in future agri-environment programmes.
The MacGillycuddy Reeks EIP was awarded a further €323,447 for its work over the next year.
The farmer-led agri-environmental project focuses on developing innovative actions for High Nature Value Farming within the MacGillycuddy Reeks catchment area, which stretches from the Gap of Dunloe road in the east to Glencar.
As well as the projects outlined, in addition, the Hen Harrier and Pearl Mussel Project recently began to issue their 2,000 plus participants habitat payments for 2021. This will amount to over €5.6 million over the coming weeks.
Many of the smaller EIP-AGRI projects are also currently issuing famer payments. The EIP initiative is co-funded by the EU Commission and the Irish Government as part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme.
There is a wide range of EIP Operational Groups already in existence under Irelands RDP0 Information on the European Innovation Partnership initiative can be accessed on the Department website at DAFM - European Innovation Partnership or by contacting eip@agriculture.gov.ie
