€500k this year alone: Cost of saving the corncrake
According to data released yesterday by the Department of Arts and Heritage, the State has spent €500,000 on various measures to safeguard the bird in the first 10 months of this year.
In response to a Freedom of Information request, the department confirmed that €505,712 has been spent on the fight to save the bird to the end of October.
The investment is paying off; the numbers of corncrake has risen by between 30% and 40% this year to 184/185 — the highest number of calling males in almost 20 years.
However, separate figures from the department yesterday show that money spent on the conservation battle is not the determining factor in the numbers of corncrake who spend their summers in Ireland before migrating to sub-Saharan Africa.
The department confirmed that last year it spent €722,237 on the corncrake — and the numbers dropped from 135 calling males to 129.
The combined spend over the 22-month period on the bird is €1.22m.
The figures show the largest proportion of money goes to farmers in the population strongholds in Connacht and Donegal — this year, farmers have received €355,173 for corncrake management, compared to payments of €545,000 to farmers last year.
The spend for this year also includes €50,000 on a predator programme aimed at eliminating the threat posed by mink and foxes.
Corncrake fieldworkers received €85,693, and farm planner fees were €16,420.
The top payment to a farmer this year was €9,431, paid to a Galway farmer, with a farmer in Co Offaly also receiving over €9,000.
The measures are in place as mechanised farming decimated the corncrake population that was once widespread across Ireland.
Corncrake expert Anita Donaghy of Birdwatch Ireland yesterday described the bird as “iconic”, stating that the €505,000 spend “is money very well spent”.
“The sound of the corncrake is something very magical to hear and heralds the coming of the summer,” said Dr Donaghy.
