Farmers have signed up to take part in a new multi-million euro coastal nature project that will encompass 5,000 hectares from west Connemara to north Donegal.
The €7.4 million nature project, which is funded by the European Union and led by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), aims to restore coastal habitats and protect vulnerable wading birds such as the curlew.
The project was developed to work with farmers, landowners and local communities in a bid to protect and restore Ireland’s network of machair systems – which are coastal grassland habitats.
Details of the LIFE on Machair Project were launched today (Friday, April 21) – which is World Curlew Day 2023 – by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan and Minister of State, Pippa Hackett in the Killeen Community Centre, Louisburgh, Co. Mayo.
The key objective of the project, which will run until 2028, is the “delivery of environmental and social benefits for people and nature” through the conservation and restoration of grassland habitats and a variety of species including some vulnerable wading birds such as the curlew.
It will include nine sites covering over 5,000 hectares along the western seaboard, from west Connemara in Galway, to South Mayo, Achill Island and the Erris region in northwest Mayo to north Donegal.
Minister Noonan said he was delighted that 100 farmers had already signed up to take part in the LIFE project to help restore special coastal grasslands which he said “hold enormous biodiversity value”.
“Collaborative approaches like these are the best way to deliver real and enduring results for nature that are good for people as well as wildlife,” the minister added.
Minister Hackett also said she was confident that the project would deliver results for “nature and biodiversity”.
“The results based element is very key to the success of the project. Monitoring results helps farmers to really engage and deliver for their local ecosystem.
“This is a great example of a systems approach to combining valuable outputs for farming and nature conservation, while leading the way to informing wider restoration projects,” the minister added.