There are currently 190 National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) farm plan schemes in operation all around the country.
But the plan is not a compensation scheme, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien, said recently in the Dáil.
The minister made his comments in response to a parliamentary question, posed by independent TD, Deputy Carol Nolan.
Deputy Nolan asked the minister if provision is being made, or will be made, for compensation to be provided to farmers or landowners impacted by having land or property designated under the NPWS scheme.
Minister O’Brien said his department recognises the positive role that appropriate farming can play in addressing the biodiversity decline that has been witnessed in recent decades.
The scheme was launched in 2006 to support landowners to deliver actions that benefit habitats and species in special areas of conservation and special protection areas, known collectively as Natura 2000 sites.
But, he said, the NPWS farm plan “it is not a compensation scheme for abiding by European or national nature legislation”.
“The NPWS farm plan scheme operates nationally, supporting various habitats and species by working proactively with landowners to go above and beyond their statutory requirements,” he said.
He went on to say that, in 2021, he almost doubled the funding available under the scheme to €1.89 milion.
He said he expects that further farm plans will be implemented in 2022 and he said his department is working closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to prioritise entry for farmers with designated lands in the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan, from 2023-2027.
Responding, however, Deputy Nolan said that the relatively low uptake rate among farmers and landowners suggests that the scheme is “fundamentally unappealing to the vast majority of them”.
“I do not expect these numbers to improve given the regulatory burden already attached to existing statutory habitat requirements.”
Below, is a breakdown of the number of current NPWS farm plans by county.
Offaly 1 Dublin 1 Galway and Offaly 1 Laois 3 Louth 1 Mayo and Mayo Sligo Border 1 Waterford 1 Kildare 2 Cavan 3 Leitrim 3 Tipperary 4 Westmeath 3 Kilkenny 4 Limerick 4 Roscommon 4 Wicklow 4 Clare 5 Sligo 11 Cork 10 Wexford 11 Galway 18 Mayo 17 Offaly 13 Kerry 28 Donegal 37