A threat response plan for hen harriers, which is currently under public consultation, needs more practical measures for supporting farmers, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said.
The public consultation on the threat response plan was launched last month, with the aim of identifying actions to address and reverse the key threats and pressures on the bird, arising from the agricultural, forestry, and wind energy development sectors.
The identified actions are particularly targeted at hen harrier Special Protection Areas (SPAs), comprising six breeding and two wintering hen harrier SPAs.
The IFA said that the plan will require targeted, longstanding and tangible supports, both advisory and financial, for farmers.
Frank Brady is the chairperson of the IFA’s SAC (special area of conservation) Project Team, and is also the association’s Ulster/North Leinster regional chairperson.
“The key role and preservation efforts that farmers in hen harrier areas are playing, and do play, in maintaining and enhancing the hen harrier habitats needs to be better supported. Initiatives must be given time to develop and yield tangible results,” Brady said.
He added: “Farmers/foresters cannot be less well off from their efforts to preserve the hen harrier… Under no heading can there be any further designation of lands.
“Designations slash land values and increase the management costs due to higher environmental standards, which decrease farmers’ flexibility with regard to the management of the land.”
According to Brady, the existing supports for farmers in hen harrier SACs are not adequate and permanent payments are needed for farmers on permanent designations.
The IFA regional chair said that no additional land should be designated until that is the case.
IFA farm forestry chairperson Jason Fleming, meanwhile, said there “needs to be acceptance” that forest management practices, including afforestation, are “wholly compatible” with hen harrier conservation when managed at a landscape level.
“The restrictions on planting and forest management activity with SPAs and non-designated important areas need to be reviewed as they are currently unworkable on some sites.
“National annual surveys need to be undertaken to provide more accurate conservation information to minimise disturbance to both hen harriers and forest operations,” Fleming said.