A debate and action on “how to compensate farmers for all the carbon that they already sequester in their farms” is being called for in the Seanad by Louth senator Erin McGreehan.
Speaking in the Seanad to mark National Tree Week, senator McGreehan urged the chamber to invite the Minister for Agriculture to the house to discuss a new hedgerow management plan for farmers.
Commenting, senator McGreehan said: “I firmly believe that farmers need to be given at minimum carbon appreciation and at best credit for the thousands of tonnes of Carbon their hedgerows sequester annually.
“Will the Seanad leader invite the Minister of Agriculture to Seanad Éireann to debate how we as a country can harness the environmental power within our hedgerows?
We have approximately 400,000km of hedgerows in the country and there are really positive environmental issues that we can bring in if we look at what our hedgerows provide.
The senator quoted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research in noting that up to 0.66 to 3.3t of carbon can be sequestered by 1ha of hedgerow.
“This is not insignificant and with a proper hedgerow management plan, we can utilise for the betterment of our native biodiversity,” she added.
The Fianna Fáil senator outlined that, according to Teagasc research, to bring a beef animal to slaughter will only produce 20-23kg of carbon.
We have to appreciate what our farms are already doing for the environment and give credit to the farmers and hedgerows.
“A proper hedgerow management plan for each of our farmers in the new environment protection scheme is needed.
“Other industries will be permitted to purchase carbon credits to offset their emissions- agriculture has been offsetting for generations and getting no acknowledgment for it” concluded Senator McGreehan