The assessment of commonages under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) has continued to show significant progress towards reaching completion.
The most recent update has confirmed that the commonages in the ACRES Leinster CP (co-operation projects) area and ACRES Breifne CP zone have been completed.
In what is a considerable task, the assessment covered an area of 21,760ha in ACRES Breifne CP, and the 244 commonages in the ACRES Leinster CP area with a combined area of 33,251 ha.
The team that undertakes the assessment of commonages are employees of the Hen Harrier Project, which is contracted to carry out this work by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) .
Commonages assessment
In order to improve their advice to farmers, the ACRES scoring team employed the use of drones in order to create digital models and habitat maps for the Blackstairs Mountains and the Cooley peninsula.
This was also done along with large parts of the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains.
The data gathered, combined with the information collected during walkover assessments, will be used with the aim of advising farmers on management or actions that can increase their score and grow their payments.
The data collected must also be inputted into the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marines computer system so that payment to farmers can be calculated.
When assessing commonages in the Slieve Aughties in the ACRES Munster / south Connacht CP zone, the team encountered whooper swans flying overhead.
The team also thanked the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff “for their assistance in the survey of commonages within the Wicklow National Park”.
They also expressed their gratitude for guidance from the NPWS for “avoiding disturbance to peregrines and other wildlife”.
While the ACRES scoring team was “very appreciative” of the help provided by many local farmers during their work, they also thanked the Defence Forces, particularly the Air Corps in Baldonnell and the local military personnel at Coolmoney Camp for their assistance in the survey in the Glen of Imaal in the Wicklow Mountains.