What farmers in the Burren, Co. Clare liked most about the Burren Programme was the access to local support, according to Dr. Brendan Dunford who has been working with farmers in the region for the past 25 years.
The programme, which was the first in Ireland using a scoring system to reward farmers for environmental actions, ran from 2010 until 2022 before the Agri Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES) was implemented nationwide.
Speaking at the recent RDS ‘Finding Common Ground’ event, the former manager of the Burren Programme and the co-founder of the Burrenbeo Trust shared the lessons he has learned from farmers in the Burren delivering for nature.
The Burren Programme
Under the programme, a scorecard was used to measure the ecosystem services provided by a farmer in a digit between 0 and 10 points and rewarded farmers accordingly. Overstocking, for example, would be scored at 0 points, without any payment, he said.
At the other end of the scale, where land is well managed, according to stocking levels, the farmer was awarded the maximum score of 10 and received the highest payment available at €315/ha, Dr. Dunford told the event last week.
This payment structure “stimulates” farmers to take action and improve their score, according to the former programme manager who said “it’s not just paying the results, it’s supporting the actions that deliver the results”.
Dr. Dunford “argues strongly” against putting ceilings on results-based payments for farmers. The promptness of payments is “hugely” important for farmers as they “lose trust completely” if payment dates are not adhered to, he added.
These payments cannot be “framed” as compensation as they are paid to farmers for delivering ecosystem services to society, he said and stressed the importance of creating and supporting new opportunities for nature-related products and services.
Dr. Dunford gave the example of farm families building stone walls in the Burren, locally-made farm gates, directly selling produce from the farmgate, agri-tourism, and farmers’ involvement in Natura Communities, and stressed that:
“If we are serious about nature, we have a resource in rural Ireland and they are called farmers and they need to be incentivised and rewarded for being part of the solution.”
When Dr. Dunford and Sharon Parr started the programme, he said they were determined to keep everything to a one-page document, including a map of the farm, a farmer’s scores and a “simple” sentence on how this score can be improved.
Addressing the issue of bureaucracy, Dr. Dunford said there needs to be a focus on simplification, however, he believes that “we are going in the opposite direction, unfortunately and that’s really deterring a lot of farmers”.
What farmers involved in the programme liked most was not the payment, but the access to local support. Whether farmers had issues regarding their payments or planning permissions, problems could be sorted out in their office in Carron, he added.
Delivering for nature
When the Burren Programme started in 2010, the average score achieved by participating farmers was about 6.8 points. By 2022 when the programme concluded, the average score achieved by farmers had risen to 7.8 points by 2022, according to Dr. Dunford.
This increase is a “tangible improvement in the environmental condition of Ireland’s foremost biodiverse landscape”, he said and added that “if it can be done in the Burren, it can be done anywhere and at scale”.
Dr. Dunford said he “applauds” the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) for embracing the results-based model under ACRES and, in particular, for the local teams which support farmers in delivering for nature.
Results-based systems allow farmers to take different actions, in different ways and at different times to deliver for nature, Dr. Dunford said. “This is what nature loves. Nature is going to find its niche within that complexity”, he added.
He believes farmers need to be mobilised not just as a resource to deliver for nature, but also to advise on how to deliver for nature and inspire other farmers. This is what ‘Horse’s Mouth’, a Farming for Nature programme aims to achieve.
Dr. Dunford said he regularly visits farmers who are involved in Farming for Nature, which is an initiative hosted by the Burrenbeo Trust. These farmers, he said, are viable, productive farmers who are delivering for nature on their own terms.
The Winterage festival in the Burren sees cattle being brought onto the mountain for the winter months every year since it has been set up 15 years ago. This event puts farmers and the ecosystem services they deliver in the “spotlight”, he said.
As a consequence of the festival, farmers feel respected and valued, he said. Farming needs to be “reimagined” and we need to share a “more positive, practical and inclusive” narrative around farming and nature, Dr. Dunford said.