The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has published a map outlining the locations of the country where some 20,000 farmers will be eligible for the maximum payment of €10,500 under the new Agri-Environment Climate Measure (AECM) from next year.

The AECM will form the ‘flagship environment scheme’ of Pillar II of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) when it comes into effect from 2023.

Yesterday evening (Wednesday, February 9), Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue announced the launch of a tender process for the management of ‘co-operation projects’ (CPs) under the scheme. Farmers in these CPs will be eligible for the higher rate of payment.

The services sought under the tender will support the establishment and management of CPs across eight regions, in areas deemed to be of particularly high-nature value.

These areas, which are concentrated in the west of the country (though with some exceptions), are outlined in the map below (the eight coloured areas refer to specific named CPs):

Image source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine AECM map
Image source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The eight CPs will be named: Burren; Donegal; East-Southeast; Midwest-Southern Uplands; North Connacht-Ulster; Northwest Connacht; South Mayo-Connemara; and West Cork-Kerry.

The new AECM is the flagship €1.5 billion environmental scheme under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan. It was submitted to the European Commission for approval in December.

All farmers will have access to the new AECM scheme. However, as part of this scheme, eight areas in the country have been identified as having particular environmental characteristics, and farmers in those areas will engage in the new AECM through the CP teams.

These farmers in turn will benefit from higher payment rates, up to a maximum €10,500 per year, should they participate and undertake the “most environmentally ambitious actions”.

Farmers who are not in one of these areas, and are therefore not eligible to take part in the CP approach, can still access the scheme – which will replace the Green, Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) in the next CAP – but their payments will be subject to maximum of €7,000. Some 30,000 farmers will be in this cohort.

Farmers participating in the CP approach will be supported by a local CP team, who will assist with implementation of the scheme at local level.

This aspect of the AECM will build on current European Innovation Partnership (EIP) projects and other locally-led schemes, such as the Burren Programme. It will use a “habitats-based approach”.

Speaking yesterday evening, Minister McConalogue said: “The locally-adapted and hybrid results-based agri-environment scheme delivery model, which has been successfully tried and tested in the Burren Programme and a number of EIPs, will be rolled out across the country in various landscape contexts.

“We are now looking to scale up from these successful projects to enable as many farmers as possible to participate and contribute to long-term environmental improvement.

The minister went on to say that farmers participating in the AECM “will have the necessary support and training”.

According to the department, the principle of the CPs is that they facilitate the effective implementation of locally targeted and adapted agri-environment measures in identified high-environmental priority areas across the country.

These include areas dominated by semi-natural vegetation (both privately owned and in commonage); Natura 2000 lands; and priority water catchments, among others.

An initial map was created of river sub-basin catchments with greater than 50% coverage of grazed semi-natural vegetation. These zones were divided on a geographical basis into the 8 CP areas, or zones.

The map was further refined by applying nature and water related priorities, as follows:

  • Nature priorities:
    • Natura 2000 sites;
    • Natural Heritage areas (NHAs);
    • All offshore islands;
    • The Burren region;
    • Breeding hen harrier regions;
    • Curlew breeding areas;
    • Areas covered by the two LIFE projects – the Wild Atlantic Nature project and the Corncrake project;
    • River sub-basins known to support large areas of grasslands;
  • Water priorities:
    • River sub-basins containing waterbodies with ‘high status’ water objectives.

It is understood that work is ongoing in preparing a system to enable a farmer to identify whether his or her farm falls within a particular CP zone.

The costs of the CP teams will be finalised following the completion of the procurement process through the tender.

These teams will include ecologists, hydrologists, ornithologists and project managers. They will engage with farmers “with advice and best practice to maintain or improve” the habitats on their holdings, the department says.