Hedgerows Ireland is to stage a protest outside Leinster House in Dublin that will call for changes in legislation and highlight why the government should “pay farmers for quality hedgerows”.
The organisation, which plans to hold the protest on Wednesday, February 15, said it will also deliver a letter to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Charlie McConalogue demanding action to “save and enhance hedgerows”.
In the letter, Hedgerows Ireland calls on the minister to implement “an immediate reduction of the current 500m hedgerow removal limit pending the outcome of the promised review by DAFM”.
The organisation also claims in the letter that “upwards of 3000km of hedgerows are still being removed annually by a small number of landowners”, who it said are “facilitated” under DAFM regulations to “destroy up to half a kilometre of hedgerow without any assessment or permission”.
Co-signatories of the letter include An Taisce, Irish Countrywomen’s Association, Federation of Irish Beekeepers, Irish Doctors for the Environment and the Irish Wildlife Trust.
According to Hedgerows Ireland, which is a non-governmental organisation that was established in 2019, it has been campaigning for the last three years for the government to “amend the rules around hedgerow removal”.
“These recommendations have been ignored. Reviews of the rules have been promised but with no dates or terms of reference.
“The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) scheme payments have missed key opportunities to incentivise good hedgerow management,” the organisation also stated.
It has previously called on DAFM to revisit its calculations for space for nature under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
In its letter to the minister, Hedgerows Ireland also highlights that good management supports sequestration of carbon, supports biodiversity and wildlife including pollinators.
The organisation said that while it believes the removal of the current 500m hedgerow removal limit should be a key priority for Minister McConalogue it is also advocating that “farm payments should reward landowners for maintaining and improving the quality of existing hedgerows as well as the planting of new hedges”.